Virtual Assistants offer administrative support and other services to anyone from a sole trader to an SME (Small or Medium-sized Enterprise). The nature of the services offered is very varied and ranges from diary management and invoicing, all the way to website management and content writing. The Concierge Service will provide support to individuals and families alike, in need of a helping hand to juggle busy schedules and day to day activities such as picking up laundry, arranging birthday messages and gifts to be delivered on time and the like.
As a CIC, Time Gained will offer work experience to people who are struggling to return to, or enter for the first time, mainstream employment, whether held back by a disability, criminal record, or any other barrier they might face.
The Director, Anna Aprea, was inspired by the incredible work of her grandfather, the late Pat Bearfield, who set up a company in the 1980s to rehabilitate prisoners by training them into the building trade. With different skills, Anna decided to set up a social enterprise that would help disadvantaged people integrate into the modern “digital” world we live in. Formerly a social researcher, she herself experienced the difficulty of re-entering the world of work when she suffered from anorexia (diagnosed in 2010), a battle which took her a few years to win.
As a graduate of both the University of Reading (BA History and Sociology and MSc in Sociology with Research Methods) and of the University of Oxford (MSc in Criminology with Research Methods – Kellog College), Anna often says:
if someone as privileged and extrovert as I struggled to return to employment, as I did coming out of anorexia, then I am certain that the majority of people out there who have experienced long-term unemployment, whatever the reason for this, will also!”.
The Early Journey
The thought of setting up this CIC was one of the factors (along with therapy) that helped her in her recovery from anorexia.
In 2016 she became a Virtual Assistant to learn the trade – first as an associate, and later as a sole trader in her own right (Pageeze was set up in 2018).
Collaboration with Graft Thames Valley
In 2019 she collaborated with Graft Thames Valley (a charity that she works passionately for that supports disadvantaged people into meaningful employment) in the creation and delivery of the very successful Survival Guide training programme, which led her to become a Trustee for Graft in December of that year.
Hazel Wright, CEO of Graft, on hearing of Anna’s intention (by then still a pipe dream) in January 2020, encouraged her to hasten the plans to set up her CIC and helped her apply to the People’s Postcode Lottery for a grant to pilot her idea with Graft. It led to the creation of the Fusion project which debuted in August 2020. The Fusion project has been incredibly successful with 54% of its students moving into employment. Only 18% of students did not move into a positive outcome at the end of the programme. This result, in a pandemic year, is outstanding and one both Hazel and Anna are understandably very proud of.
Further Support and Encouragement
Anna also feels very privileged to have been one of the 160 individuals selected to be a part of the 2020/21 Lloyds Bank Social Entrepreneurs Start Up programme (run in partnership with the School for Social Entrepreneurs and jointly funded by The National Lottery Community Fund).
The programme, now in its tenth year, is the largest of its kind in the UK. By the end of 2020 it had already supported 2,350 social entrepreneurs.
The programme has given Anna the confidence to set up her CIC and the support and network needed to get this venture off to the best start possible. She is on the lookout for social investors that can help her grow and develop the business further.
A Virtual Assistant Company
Building on the success of Fusion, Survival Guide programmes and the support of the School for Social Entrepreneurs, Time Gained CIC will offer work experience to people who are struggling to return to, or enter for the first time, mainstream employment, whether held back by a disability, criminal record, or any other barrier they might face.
Time Gained will be launching on the 8th of September 2021. We encourage everyone interested in helping individuals who face barriers to mainstream employment, to attend the afternoon tea party to find out more. To book a place contact us or complete the form below to receive occasional updates on our progress.