Chief to leave youth charity
The chief executive of a Newark charity set up to help young people is leaving.
Mr Matt Stevenson-Dodd (34) is moving on from the Unique Social Enterprise and Unique Coffee Bar to become the chief executive of Young Enterprise North West.
Unique Coffee Bar opened as a charity for young people in Newark in January 2000 and employs 22 full-time staff across two sites.
Mr Stevenson-Dodd was the first employee.
The charity was set up to provide a meeting place for 14 to 25 year-olds.
The chairman of Unique’s board of trustees, Mr Chris Wright, said: “Matt has made a remarkable contribution to Unique’s success over the past eight years, taking the organisation from its starting point to what is now a multi-award-winning social enterprise.”
Mr Stevenson-Dodd gained a BA Hons degree in sociology and undertook a post graduate diploma in community and youth work, before starting a career as a full-time youth worker in Newark.
It was through this involvement that he worked with local young people who went on to develop the Unique Coffee Bar concept.
In 1999, Mr Stevenson-Dodd was offered a secondment from the youth service to become manager of the coffee bar.
He developed the organisation’s social enterprise activities, including a drop-in youth coffee bar offering accredited alternative education, advice and guidance.
In 2005 the organisation opened the Unique Scrap Store, collecting and selling usable, surplus-to-requirements materials from local industry and individuals, as well as selling a wide range of new art and craft materials at low cost.
Mr Stevenson-Dodd was appointed one of 25 UK social enterprise ambassadors last year.
“I am incredibly sad to be leaving Unique. It has been a privilege to work with Newark’s young people,” he said.
Young Enterprise North West is a charity offering young people the chance to learn enterprise skills first-hand by running their own businesses.
Mr Stevenson-Dodd will start his new post in April.
He will be responsible for overseeing and establishing the strategic direction for the organisation, based in Warrington.
A successor to Mr Stevenson-Dodd at Unique has not yet been appointed.
