CASE STUDY: Peter Cox, Eaglehawk Recovery & Sales Yard, Future Employment Opportunities

‘SROI confirmed that we are a business model, not a welfare model.’

Future Employment Opportunities (FEO) is a non-profit organisation which manages a range of employment projects. It provides training, employment placement services and enterprise activities for job seekers and others of all ages in Central and Northern Victoria. FEO aims to restore dignity lost through not having a job and to generate a revitalised purpose in life by providing equal opportunity to learn and maintain existing work and personal skills.

When SVA supported Peter Cox and his team to develop an SROI for their organisation, the Eaglehawk team were really pleased with the result. ‘We knew we were making a great contribution to the Bendigo community, but after applying the SROI tool we realised that we had contributed more than an estimated $1 million – that was impressive. And motivating!’

Eaglehawk Recovery & Sales Yard is a social enterprise focused on providing sustainable employment by recycling products for sale that were otherwise destined for landfill. It has created positive outcomes in many spheres: environmentally, personally, socially and financially.
Peter and his management have been greatly impacted by the SROI report. ‘After more than 20 years in the non-profit sector, it is almost a natural instinct for me to think about our organisation in the context of a welfare model. I know it is not – I know it is a great business in its own right, offering meaningful employment options for people. Having the SROI report reminds me of this.

‘Furthermore, having the SROI in my back-pocket gives me a great “business tool” to take along to stakeholder meetings. To prove to them that we are a valuable business with strong financial and social outcomes. Recently, when I was lobbying our local council (and biggest stakeholder) for increased access to recyclable products, it was really useful. It ensured I could easily articulate the value we were providing in a language that they understood.

‘The SROI tool is designed to provide that “knowledge”. It gives further credence to the qualitative success stories and more context to the balance sheet and profit & loss statements. It provides information on our dual role as a social enterprise more comprehensively than I could otherwise discuss. How useful!’

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