A 60s architectural icon becomes a cultural centre for social innovation.

In 2002 Kate started working with the Leatherhead regeneration trust to transform the Thorndike Theatre in Leatherhead.

This derelict building was bought by a collective of local churches and community organisations in an effort to regenerate the town centre. Kate was approached to become a specialist Trustee to support the funding and development strategy.

Kate supported the trustees to renew the cultural programme and create sustainable funding streams through a bar, concessions stand, café, managed workspace and conference centre. The iconic 60s architecture has led the Theatre to become a popular choice for film and television. Most notably staring in the Little Drummer Girl series. The enterprise centre has spawned a number of social enterprises and is a hub for creatives and innovators.

The Leatherhead Schools Drama Festival, Judged by local resident Sir MIchael Cain is now a firm favourite in the surrey cultural calender. The new Leatherhead Theatre is once again a national cultural treasure.

Creating asset led community change

Kate worked as an advisor to the Adeyfield Free Church in Hemel Hempstead for nearly 10 years, supporting the leadership team to develop and iterate their thinking about how to deliver the vision to develop professional, high quality community services.

This included a partnership with a local housing association, selling the original Church site and building and creating a community hub on a new development. The Church now provides formal childcare, homelessness services and support to older and vulnerable people through its new facility. A great example of how to use existing community assets to create sustainable community services.

Creating sustainable community investment in rural Kenya

Recensere worked with the Chair and Chief Executive of St Peters Lifeline, an educational charity which funds primary and FGM education in rural Kenya to innovate its funding model.

Moving away from just fundraising to create a sustainable investment model, Recensere introduced St Peters to the Grameen Bank model of micro finance. By 2020 St Peters had reinvested its loan fund with women in the rural farming community over 3000 times. Helping this community to diversify away from farming, the outcomes from the approach have seen these families able to pay for primary and secondary education for their children and ensure they have greater protection from periods of drought.

Addressing the cultural barriers to social innovation: UNDP Poland, Misericordia Italy, Said Oxford Business School

During her time at the South East England Development Agency, Kate designed and directed a pan European Research Partnership into the organisational barriers to social innovation in Italy, Poland and the UK. Recruiting research partners from Said Business School, Oxford. The partnership researched entrepreneurship and organisational design in third and public sector organisations - identifying the pre-requisite skills, attitudes and methods that allow innovation to take place. As a result of the partnerships success, Kate was UK speaker at the Helsinki European Social Fund Annual Conference in 2007 and the Skoll World Forum for Social Entrepreneurship.