By Laura Trunkfield, SBT Investment Assistant Director on secondment from EY

Joining the Social Business Trust on secondment from EY, I had that “first day at work” feeling all over again.

This soon went, when early on in my secondment, I joined a workshop being run by LEAP Confronting Conflict, one of social enterprises in SBT’s portfolio.

SBT have been working with LEAP since 2020. Their training gives young people the chance and tools to constructively deal with conflict within their lives, and later sets them up for success in whatever form that takes – entering employment, further education, or, for some, avoiding the prison system. 

During that session, I observed first-hand the positive impact LEAP are having on young people’s lives, helping them to foster healthy relationships, make positive decisions and inspiring self-growth.

On a personal level, my secondment at SBT has given me the opportunity to listen and to learn from LEAP, and work with their leadership team to co-deliver creative and complex solutions to some of their most pressing organisational challenges.  

Laura and Dudley at the SBT office. Little did she know when she joined the team that Dudley would quickly rise to the position of Head of Wellbeing. 

Following our work with them, LEAP are in the process of implementing their new corporate training offering, core narrative work and building their business development capability.

In light of the cost-of-living crisis and cuts to local authority budgets, it’s reassuring to know that SBT’s work – with Leap and the other 14 social enterprises we support – is helping to build financial resilience in the face of a challenging economic environment.

I feel proud that my support has helped broaden the reach of LEAP’s training and, just like I had access to this thought provoking workshop, many others will be lucky to not only see the great work they do but also be positively impacted by the experience.

Reflecting back on my secondment to SBT more generally, I am grateful for the opportunity and, looking ahead, I’m really excited to put all of my new experience to good use back at EY working with my team and clients.

Laura Trunkfield is an Assistant Director at EY who has worked on secondment to SBT for the past nine months

If you work at EY, or any of SBT’s corporate partners, and are interested in putting your skills and expertise to good use in support of a social enterprise, contact us at [email protected]