The Workshop is set to double its production capacity following a cash injection from a range of social investors

A Tayside social business which helps young people and those facing barriers into employment has won a funding package worth £128,000 to further expand.

The Workshop in Aberfeldy exists to help people develop confidence and learn craft and design skills, with the aim of supporting people in Highland Perthshire into employment or further training. Working with the local community, it manufactures a range of products, including medals, gifts and a range of bespoke products.

Since launching in 2014, 75% of The Workshop’s trainees have been under 25 and 50% have some kind of additional support needs or rehabilitation needs.

The Workshop is described as a safe environment for trainees to gain self-confidence and interpersonal skills at their own pace while learning practical manufacturing skills including engineering, laser-cutting and woodworking.

Now, the community venture has received £39,000 investment from private investors and a further £25,000 from Social Investment Scotland, which has been match funded to the tune of £64,000 from the Big Lottery Fund.

And it’s all thanks to social enterprise accelerator programme LaunchMe, which is delivered by Firstport.

The Workshop founder and manager Paul Parmenter said: “We are delighted to secure this investment and matched funding, with the support of Firstport. This will enable us to more than double our current production capacity, as well as developing new product ranges and offer training on different machinery.

“This will widen our training, making it more relevant to more careers, and enable us to support more young and vulnerable people into training and employment.”

LaunchMe supports the most ambitious, early stage social enterprises to achieve scale, by getting them investment ready and connecting them with investors looking for social as well as financial returns. In addition to initial seed funding, participants can also apply for funding of up to £100,000 to match any investment they secure during the programme.

LaunchMe has helped 22 social enterprises on their mission to secure investment and increase their social impact.

The programme has attracted the attention of the Scottish angel investor community and has successfully brokered a number of investment deals worth over £600,000, bringing the total amount of social investment raised to almost £1 million.

Josiah Lockhart, chief executive of Firstport, said: “Scotland has one of the strongest business angel communities in the world and a strong track record in helping start-up and early stage businesses achieve their ambitions. We are greatly encouraged by the number of these angels who are willing to support social enterprises such as The Workshop.”