Wages are rising according to some, but falling (in real terms) according to others. Employment is on the increase, but so are zero-hours contracts. It’s a tough economic climate and the gap continues to widen between those that have, and those that don’t… it’s enough to make you start to seriously consider working for yourself, and if you have the passion and skills, it can be empowering and financially rewarding. But if you don’t have access to finance, a trip to the bank might not result in the support you need.

The way we work is also changing and has been for some time. The rigidity of 9-5, Monday to Friday doesn’t work for everyone (it was ever thus, it’s just that employers were often reluctant to seek alternatives). The rise of the social entrepreneur driving social innovation and transformation; redundancy and downsizing; technology adapting and evolving to enable people to work anytime, anywhere, have all married to radically change the working landscape in not much more than a generation. 4.3 million of us are now self employed, a rise of 15% according to the Office of National Statistics.

And it’s these reasons and more, why charities like the Fredericks Foundation are so busy, and why our client base is so diverse. As credit becomes increasingly hard to get, we may be dealing with confident, articulate business people who in years past, would have simply gone to the bank. However, we also deal with clients that may have faced more complex challenges in their lives, some of which are ongoing. We work with victims of domestic violence, ex-offenders, long-term unemployed and those with disabilities. For this second group, being able to work for themselves, and control their circumstances in a way they couldn’t clocking in and out for someone else, is transformative.

Hard times bring about creative solutions; the birth of the pop up shop in response to rising rents, the diversification of traditional business, the explosion of social media changing the face of marketing forever, cheaper e-commerce solutions, farmers markets and craft fairs revitalising local communities (despite the image of craft fairs being ‘twee’, they generate £400m annually according to the government’s own figures and for every £10 spent at a farmer’s market, it’s estimated up to £25 is generated in economic activity...).

So as long as people continue to want to work in new and creative ways, who might prefer shorts to Saville Row, for those that want to turn their lives around, or simply want to balance a meaningful career with a fulfilling family life, Fredericks Foundation can offer financial and business support to help make it happen…