About Us

Governance and Accountability

The Novas Group was established in 1998 and over the last three years the organisation has transformed itself from predominately a provider of large hostels for homeless people to be at the cutting edge of tackling social disadvantage through social enterprise, innovation and positive impact.

The aim of the Novas Group was to change lives through arts, enterprise and community support, developing opportunities for individuals and communities through community support, education, training, employment, art, culture and regeneration. We have developed a strong reputation for the delivery of quality community-based services, and for new and innovative approaches together with people who experience inequality, exclusion and discrimination.

At the begining of 2008 The Novas Group, The Scarman Trust and Path merged together to form the Novas Scarman Group a major social justice charity at the cutting edge of tackling social disadvantage through social enterprise, innovation and positive impact.

Novas Scarman works at a local level to empower people and communities by creating opportunities for positive change through personalised support and development, pathways into work and learning, inclusive local decision making and change programmes, and releasing enterprise and cultural expression.

We bring communities together by enabling a voice for those often not heard or marginalised, to be at the heart of our communities, and we aim to become one of the world’s most influential and effective catalysts for social justice, inclusion and diversity.

Three organisations – Novas Group, PATH and Scarman Trust – merged in December 2007 to create the Novas Scarman Group, representing a joining together of shared values in order to facilitate social justice and inclusion, diversity and cohesion.

The organisation has four core activities:

· Community support services serving the most disadvantaged communities
· Clusters of social enterprises based in Contemporary Urban Centres
· Nation-wide programmes of learning and inclusive pathways to work
· Campaigning and policy advocacy work – “connecting the streets with the corridors of power”

About the three organisations

The Novas Group was Charity of the Year in 2007 and combines support for vulnerable individuals with major programmes of social enterprise development

The Scarman Trust pioneered support for grassroots social entrepreneurs and recently helped to develop proposals for a new Social Investment Bank – backed by both Gordon Brown and David Cameron

PATH supports Black and Minority Ethnic entrants to professions and has recently been given both the RTPI and Civil Service Diversity Award

We run contemporary urban centres offering integrated arts, performance, small business development and community activity; community support services working together with 6,000 people a year with customer input at every level; a translation and interpreting service utilising the skills of over 200 Black and Refugee people, and coffee shops offering fair trade and organic produce.

Our initiatives positively change the lives of people, including those experiencing homelessness, health issues, prejudice and isolation; and they all contribute to bringing communities together. All profits are reinvested back into Novas learning and development programmes for disadvantaged groups, and at least 50% of all jobs created are targeted for these groups.

Working across the country we respond to local need and also contribute to regional, national and European agendas by identifying and providing sustainable solutions.

We develop innovative community empowerment strategies that integrate our services and those that face deep exclusion to be at the centre of our communities, not on the margins. We are currently remodelling many of our large hostels to raise the living standards for people who are homeless, within buildings that will become a part of their local communities through business, market space, cultural quarters, performance spaces, retail and restaurants.

These projects will also offer learning, cultural and enterprise space for a wide range of individuals and communities who experience exclusion.

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