Beyond Food: from partners to purpose
The non-for-profit embracing change and thriving
We sat down with Jo Littman, Partnership and Finance Director of Beyond Food, to hear more about how the not-for-profit is transitioning into a new phase of operating.
Beyond Food is an almost 20-year-old charity that works with those with criminal records, histories of homelessness or affected by acute substance abuse and mental health struggles; as an organisation, they do this by using food as the platform. A platform to engage, educate, integrate and employ those who are looking for a new path forward. Jo describes the work and mission as ‘as important as work can be.’
Out with the old, in with the very new
Jo explained how recently Beyond Food has uncoupled from a long-standing partnership they had with PWC; a partnership that started in 2011 and resulted in the running of Brigade Bar and Kitchen for over ten years. That restaurant allowed for Beyond Food to have a close-to-vertically integrated hospitality operation and ultimately drive incredible impact to those that they work on behalf of: ‘the moving away from the PWC partnership has and will continue to be a huge change, it’s flipping our operating model to one that serves us even better but that comes with all the change under the sun… exciting change but change nonetheless.’
‘We’ve done it and we’ve done it bloody well,’ Jo says, when reflecting on the past year or so.
The charity has been in a period of rapid growth; going from under £200k in funds raised annually to just over £800K. This change has been in big part due to the new operating model that has opened up partnership and fundraising opportunities, as well as creating a real need for the day-to-day to run smoothly. Jo said she dips in and out of Apron regularly, throughout the week, keeping on top of payables — for which there are many at the moment: ‘we’re opening a new restaurant, that’s completely our own so the list of suppliers and things being paid for up front is very very long; having Apron really helps me just login, check what’s due to be paid, reconcile it quickly and get on with my day.’ This agile approach allows Jo to spend time growing Beyond Food: ‘ultimately, I’m here to ensure we can raise as much money as possible to allow for our impact to continue to grow.’
Payments and the big picture; changing lives
The day-to-day finance and the big picture impact are tightly linked for Jo in her role, as she acknowledged above, so having tools that notably save time are contributing to the ‘changing of lives’ that Beyond Food does every single day. At the start, using Apron was a learning curve as any new tool is, especially in finance, but now after integrating it into every possible payables workflow, it's such a brilliant solution. Jo says, ‘it’s a reassuring tool and process… one that helps ensure trustees are brought into the financial context as and when they need while also giving me full visibility.’
Beyond Food’s own restaurant is opening up hopefully by November, Jo says, between now and then she is very busy but notes: ‘we’re really so excited about what’s coming next with our own restaurant and the ability to keep partnering with great backers; those who are giving us the rigorous financial means to keep driving impact.’
At Apron, we’re really proud that we can support Jo and the team at Beyond Food in doing work that is truly life-changing for those they help. Visit Beyond Food for more information on their new restaurant and future programmes and donation opportunities.
