South Atlantic Ocean | SHAPE charity St Helena Island

SHAPE, is St. Helena’s first and only Social Enterprise. Established in 2008, SHAPE has a crucial role in supporting the island’s disabled and vulnerable adults who could face social exclusion. SHAPE provides supportive training opportunities through environmentally friendly projects.

At SHAPE we are proud that our training programmes are geared around producing traditionally inspired crafts with strong, green initiatives. Our crafters do this by taking a host of materials; many of them waste (cardboard, flax, fleece, jeans ) and coupled with using invasive plants (aloe and flax) create fantastic products for sale to locals and tourists who visit.

As a Social Enterprise SHAPE receives 70 % of its funding from government and expects to raise 30% of our own capital. This is achieved through the sale of our ‘hand made’ products, fundraising and donations from kind donors.

SHAPE’s exceptional work is worthy of your support. This a great organisation with a huge heart!

ABOUT SHAPE

ABOUT SHAPE

The concept for SHAPE started as far back as 2004, when the St. Helena Government (SHG) spearheaded a drive to improve training opportunities for disabled people. Initially the organisation started as a joint venture between SHG and the Department for International Development (DfId) with initial consultations involving a similar organisation in the Shetland Islands, COPE.

SHAPE, in it’s infancy followed COPE’s soap making model and began with four disabled ‘Trainees’, a Manager and a Supervisor. Today the organisation has a staff of ten and twenty five (plus) disabled adults attending throughout the week. Additionally a growing number of Volunteers come to support the work of our Trainees in soap and candle making, traditional crafts and paper and card recycling.

On site, SHAPE has an educational learning classroom, encouraging our people to continue their academic progress and a cafe and shop to support social development.

A second site hosts our Paper and Card Recycling Centre.

Legal Entity:

SHAPE is registered as a Company Limited by Guarantee, No 38 and as a charity C011.

The Board of Directors:

The Board of Directors’ elected at the AGM bear the ultimate responsibility for the integrity of SHAPE and provides strategic guidance to the Manager and staff.

The Board of Directors is made up of three corporate, six community and one employee member.

Membership

SHAPE operates under Articles of Incorporation and has a membership of Community/ Corporate and Employee members. These members have limited liability.

Our Vision:

People with disabilities have the same life chances and opportunities to be active and equal members of society. We are financially stable because of our green business ethics and our people operate in an accessible, inclusive and safe environment, free of prejudice.

Our Values:

Our Values underpin everything that we do. They have not changed since our conception and shape our behaviour both as an organisation and as people working together.

We believe in a fully accessible society where all people can enjoy freedom of choice and equality of opportunity.

We embrace diversity in the knowledge that human potential has no boundaries. We believe that every person has a role in reducing barriers and attitudes that discriminate.

We are User-led in all that we do, enabling people with disabilities and other vulnerable people to influence and manage our full range of services and projects.

We aim to deliver the highest standards of service to all the people with whom we work with the highest level of dignity and integrity.

We operate a culture of open communication, empowerment and development, where individual abilities are respected and people are encouraged to achieve their full potential.

WHO WE ARE

Manager: Mrs Marianne Young-Crowie

Marianne joined SHAPE at the beginning of 2018, bringing extensive experience in business administration and HR skills.

Marianne has the overall responsibility of the day to day operations at SHAPE, managing the team and ensuring both the training programmes in the two centres meet agreed targets and our disabled people are receiving appropriate training and experiences.

Finance & Administration Manager: Miss Danielle Anthony

Danielle joined SHAPE during 2018 as our Finance Manager who also deputizes in the absence of the manager. Danielle has the overall responsibility of SHAPE's finances and manages our shop at the Jamestown Market where all our products are sold. Danielle has enhanced our social media presence and is currently studying a course in Enterprise & Marketing to help develop and promote SHAPE in future.

Social Support Officers:
Mrs Mercia Rinquist and Mrs Shireen Caswell

Mercia and Shireen joined SHAPE in 2017, and they both strengthens the role we intend to fulfill in the lives of people with complex disabilities.

Technical Trainer: Recycling/Craft (part-time): Mrs Joyce Clifford

Joyce is our longest standing member of staff. She joined SHAPE as an assistant Fibre Crafts trainer and has since been promoted to Craft trainer on a part-time basis. Joyce and her team are responsible for reviving one of St. Helena’s oldest craft traditions, the use of fibres from flax and aloe to make products. In addition Joyce's team manufactures local wool from its initial cleaning stage to the end products of beautiful handcrafted products.

Technical Trainer: Recycling/Craft: Miss Wilhelmina Fowler

Wilhelmina started at SHAPE in 2012 as a trainee. She then moved on and accepted an apprentice position at the Shape Sandy Bay Office. At the end of the Apprentice SHAPE was able to hire Wilhelmina as an Assistant Trainer, where she currently works at the Recycling Centre.

Technical Trainer: Recycling/Craft: Miss Cheryl Knipe

Cheryl started at SHAPE in 2013 as an Apprentice. She was based at the Sandy Bay office where she assisted Trainers in all areas to receive an overall experience. Cheryl was offered an Assistant Trainer position at the Recycling Centre in August 2014.

Technical Trainer - Life Skills/Café: Mrs Maureen Fritz-Plato
Maureen is the newest member of our team having joined us in 2020. Maureen comes to us from Cape Town bringing with her extensive knowledge and experience in catering. Maureen will teach life skills to our trainees to develop their independence.

OUR SERVICE USERS

At SHAPE we welcome people with all disabilities, physical and intellectual. The main scope of our work is to provide training and experiences for people with disabilities to enable them to lead independent and fulfilling lives. We do however, through a partnership with the Cararessi Foundation, offer a social support programme to disabled adults who are unable to engage in work related activities.

OUR TRAINEES

At SHAPE we refer to our people engaged on our training and work experience programmes as Trainees. Our numbers vary over the years, as people are accepted into full time employment or new people join SHAPE. We can have up to 25 people attending throughout the week.

The products you see and buy from SHAPE are made by our Trainees. They are supported by their Trainers and encouraged to work too exceptionally high standards.

VOLUNTEERING AT SHAPE

Volunteering is a great way for people, regardless of their age, cultural background, location or circumstances, to get involved in the community.

Volunteering brings you many benefits:

Meet new people and make new friends
Experience new challenges
Raise awareness and support important community issues
Experience different cultures
Help people or contribute to social change
Develop professional networks
Find a pathway to getting a job or into a course or training
Learn new skills or gain experience in a variety of roles
Explore different career and job opportunities.

For a volunteer information pack please contact SHAPE on Tel: (+290) 24690 or SHAPE@helanta.co.sh

Our work

OUR WORK

SHAPE HEAD CENTRE

Our Head Centre is located at Sandy Bay and is home to our central administration, Fibre Craft, and Creative Craft training centres and our small horticulture site. Additionally we have an education support area, a shop and café on site.

Our grounds house a play area for use by the local community. We share a partnership with new Horizons (a youth organisation) who initiated the setting up of the play space and maintains the equipment and grounds.

Situated in the heart of Sandy Bay’s green belt area, we feel privileged to have such a prime space within which to work. We are at the foot of the beautiful Diana’s peak and on route to Sandy Bay Beach and Lot’s Wife’s Ponds. To show our on going commitment with preserving St. Helena’s precious environment, we have here at SHAPE, our very own endemic garden.

OUR CAFÉ

Capitalising on our beautiful site and the major tourist attractions of Sandy Bay Beach and Lot’s Wife Ponds, SHAPE recently opened its ‘Café Bamboo’.

This small business venture has long been a vision at SHAPE. We see the potential for visitors to the island to visit us, view, participate and buy our fantastic products whilst being offered a wonderful St. Helenian hospitality service. Of course our café also provides opportunities for training and work experience within the hospitality field.

Our café is set to offer high quality, locally produced food and beverage in a clean and friendly environment.

Our PAPER AND CARD RECYCLING CENTRE

SHAPE is exceptionally proud of its green initiative and we are incredibly proud of our Paper and Card Recycling facilities. Why? Because not only are we the only recycling facility on island, but the concept of paper recycling has been one that we have worked hard on over the years. We began with a small shed at our Head Centre and started operations with a standard kitchen blender. But our vision grew and with the help of project funding we now have a small but growing enterprise, equipped with mechanised equipment and adequate production spaces.

We are situated at Donkey Plain, New Ground towards the North West of the island.

SHOP AT THE MARKET

We are open for business in the Jamestown Market: Thursdays and Fridays 10:00 to 14:00 and Saturdays 10:00 to 12:00. Our shop stocks a range of our products and showcases our beautiful work. Here in the SHAPE shop our Trainees gain valuable opportunities in retail experience and customer service skills. On Saturdays our shop is managed and run by SHAPE volunteers. We are always seeking extra help, so if you are interested in volunteering for us please get in touch!

OUR PRODUCTS