Margaret Wightman

Margaret specialises in supporting organisations with business planning, financial forecasting, and financial and organisational management. She works with organisations of all sizes, and has supported several to seek and secure asset transfer, social investment and/or grant funding to enable the development and growth of new and existing services.

Clients include organisations working in health and social care, domestic abuse and family support, elderly care services, enterprise development, young people's services, physical and mental disabilities, housing, mental health, suicide prevention, education, the arts and environmental issues.

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Building a sustainable future

Who was the organisation you worked to support?

Gateway into the Community

What was their challenge?

Gateway into the Community have been offering support and services to people with learning disabilities since 1988. They are based in Hexham, in West Northumberland, and have been renting premises there since 2017. They have invested heavily into the building to make it perfect for their needs. However, in 2023 their landlord decided he wanted to sell the premises. The asking price was £550k. He gave Gateway first refusal to purchase the building, but as he wanted a quick sale, and their free reserves were limited, they were under pressure to raise the funds very quickly.

Gateway looked at various options for finance and decided that they would pursue a mix of grant funding and social investment. They approached Northstar Ventures, who manage the North East Social Investment Fund (NESIF), and were told they would need to write a business plan and financial forecasts to apply for social investment. Northstar helped them to secure REACH funding to pay for a consultant to support them in this, and Gateway appointed me to work with them on it.

What was the support you provided / offered

Although Gateway already had a business plan and budgets which they used to direct their work, these were essentially internal documents, and the plan they needed for Northstar needed to focus on the project proposal and be convincing that the idea was robust and a sound investment.

The deadline...

What was the impact or outcome of support?

The plan and forecasts were completed in time for Northstar’s committee to consider the proposal at their December 2023 meeting. They agreed the investment, and this, together with a grant from Garfield Weston, enabled Gateway to make an offer for the building, which the landlord accepted.

After all the due diligence work was completed, the sale progressed, and was completed in March 2024.

Gateway into the Community are now the proud owners of their very own premises in the town they have operated from for over 35 years. This will provide a bedrock to sustain their activities and continue to develop the range of support they can offer to their members. They are now looking at ways to adapt the space to make it even more sustainable, including installing solar panels to reduce future energy costs.