In 1841, Paisley bade a graceful farewell to Miss Elizabeth Kibble, one of its most visionary citizens. In her Will she had laid down that part of her estate should be used to “found and endow in Paisley, an Institution for the purpose of reclaiming youthful offenders against the law.” By 1845, prudent investment along with charitable donations had realised the sum of £8,518 which enabled ground to be purchased on the outskirts of Paisley. Links were developed with the Ragged School in 1857 and on 1 July 1859 the Kibble Reformatory was opened with 14 boys being transferred from the Ragged School.
Since then, the centre has witnessed many changes, moving from Reformatory to Industrial School to Approved School to List D School and on 1 April 1996 to Kibble Education and Care Centre.
For most of the twentieth century, central and local government grants funded Kibble's work. This situation came to an abrupt end in 1996 when the dissagregation of local government confronted Kibble with two stark choices. We either closed our doors, or opted to enter the “social market” to sell education and residential care services to local authorities throughout Scotland. The latter course of action was chosen, but it was recognised that major investment was required in staffing, services, buildings and campus infrastructure if the centre was to realise its vision of being at the forefront of effective and innovative services for young people in trouble. We therefore set about reclaiming our charitable mission and in recent years as the work of the centre has expanded, charitable support in cash and kind from a wide range of grant making trusts, the Community Fund, European funds and other philanthropic benefactors has improved not just the assets of this public trust but also facilities for the local community. Today, Kibble is firmly established as a social enterprise with approximately 93% of turnover derived from earned income.
The Funding, Marketing and Communications Team was established in 2006. Based at KibbleWorks 5, we are responsible for the development, implementation and monitoring of all non fee-based initiatives and contributing to the marketing, media and publications work of the organisation. We bring qualifications and experience in marketing, law, politics, media, international relations, journalism, business and ICT and most of us are currently working toward a variety of professional qualifications. We regularly represent Kibble at events and conferences, keeping up-to-date with developments in the sector at home and abroad.
Funding, Marketing and Communications Manager, leads the team. We see ourselves as an “ideas factory” with creativity at the heart of everything we do. For example Kibble’s most recent awards (IOD Voluntary Sector Director of the Year 2007, IOD Glasgow and West of Scotland Regional Director of the Year 2007, KibbleWorks Greatest Achievement through Trading Award Paisley Partnership 2008) offer just one way to tell Kibble’s story in different ways.
Funding Deveopment Officer, has responsibility for KibbleWorks. Grant Writer, and Funding Development Officer (Part-time), have responsibility for Kibble. Their roles involve identifying and researching appropriate funding sources, and submitting applications for revenue and capital projects. Although Kibble operates as a social enterprise and charges fees for its services, this additional funding allows us to invest across the organisation - eg the recently opened Lifeskills Centre and The Robertson Trust Trades Learning Centre have been generously supported by grants from trusts and the Big Lottery respectively. European funding has helped us make huge strides in staff training and development - Men Care Too being just one example.
The department also co-ordinates exhibitions and events. It is responsible for the design and production of all marketing materials such as flyers and leaflets for activities and services across the organisation. It also coordinates the mailings to local authorities advertising service developments and placements for young people.
provides us with information around the current policies of the UK, Scottish and Local Governments and also advocates Kibble's services within the government structures. Another key part of his remit is to advocate and help develop the Social Enterprise side of Kibble and KibbleWorks throughout Government, in the UK and also Europe.
, Project Manager The Learning Zone Network, oversees the ongoing development of this online learning resource. , Multimedia Developer, has responsibility for the development of our intranet, online learning resource The Learning Zone Network and web design and hosting. Our website and intranet play a pivotal part in improving communication across the organisation and developing a comprehensive knowledge management resource. - Database Developer works on “back office” functions of the intranet and develops the code which allows our different systems to “talk” to each other.
, Volunteer Co-ordinator, is developing a comprehensive volunteer service to focus on providing volunteers for the secure unit as well as placements at KibbleWorks. We received our 100th volunteering enquiry in July 2008!
, Social Historian (part-time), has been trawling through our record books and unearthing lots of Kibble stories. She has also interviewed a wide range of individuals - pupils past and present, staff and others with some connection to Kibble. It is our intention to showcase the findings of this project in words, pictures, and displays with input from boys and staff. Please speak to Elaine if you have any Kibble memorabilia or memories.
