Increase VS (Valorisation Socialé) has run its course and has reached its goal of at least 15% of their housing association residents to start their own businesses. So at the 7th March Awards ceremony, Karen and I were nominated and both won Champion Awards.
What is Increase VS?
Interreg is a series of programmes to stimulate communication and cooperation between regions in and out of the European Union. Increase VS is one of these programmes and started in 2018. All the programmes come to an end at the end of March 2023.
French Housing Associations focussed on empowering housing association employees to help their residents and the UK Housing Associations focussed on empowering residents to start their own businesses.
Which housing associations took part?
In the UK: Optivo (now Southern Housing) in Kent and Sussex, Clarion Futures in Essex and Abri in Hampshire as well as the University of East Anglia.
In France: LogiRep, Pas-de-Calais Habitat, Archipel Habitat, and Neotoa and training providers We Ker and Inco.
How many awards were there?
There were 8 categories of awards, listed below. I have added links to the websites of the businesses and in bold are the winners of each award.
- Viviane Chevalier, Véronique Darvogne, and Franck Bousigniere
- Salariés formateurs au sein de l’Ecole de la Proximité représenté par Maïlys Lamy
- Salomon Moise Kaane, Celine Ture, Ablavi Dekadjevi, and Khady Diouf
- Dominique Henocq and Marie Irene Villalvila (Won)
- Becki Breiner (Song Signing)
- Adam Carley (TouchSkye Designs)
- Association Ech’ostrohove and collectif Touche à tout
- James Pearce (Pearce Wedding Photography)
- Victoria Knight (CoffeePod Creations)
- 85 ambassadeurs de PdCh and Mathilde Fryson
Tuteurs de l’Ecole de la proximité représenté par Morgane Delaire (Won) - Ablavi Dekadjevi
- Sarah George
- Kat Hounsell (Small Goes Big)
- Séverine Bouillez and Denis Francois
- Paul Gomis
- Sonya Okubule (Sonya’s Healthy Kitchen)
- Sarah Ellis (Tic Box Productions)
- Yemisi Olaiya (Semande)
- Régine Baudelet and Marie Pottie (Won)
- Jean Jackson (Green Botanicals)
- Lucy Jackson (Wines by the Sea)
- Hélène Dos Santos, Claudie Desprez, Aurore Dauvers
- Lynda Robinson (TouchWood Vintage Designs)
- Lesley Bishell (Hilda’s Lounge)
- Alexandre Lahoche and Bruno Griset
- Salariés actuels d’Archipel habitat ayant été stagiaires à l’Ecole de la proximité représenté par Jean-Max Otello (Won)
- Delroy Campbell (DAC Assocs)
- Susan Bonnar
- Florence Paillart (Won)
- Alain Gobert (Won)
- Karim Ben Hassel (Won)
- Cyrille Mahe (Won)
- Hadda Berrezkhami (Won)
- John Crowhurst (John The Computer Man)
- Karen Crowhurst (Let Stuff Go)
- Brent Shewell (Civil Block Microsoapery)
- Adam Carley (TouchSkye Designs)
