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We held our second two-day conference in St Helens over the weekend of the 21st-22nd October.
With 32 delegates, we had representatives from many parts of the globe including India, Morocco, Cambodia, Brazil and Central African Republic.
A number of strategy discussion papers were presented on fundamental topics such as Training, Marketing, Finance and Business Toolkits, which were subjected to intensive critique in breakout sessions.
What followed were presentations by a number of fledgling businesses, giving insights into some of the typical issues faced by small enterprises when trying to get established in different cultures.
Everyone who attended agreed that it had been an enjoyable, though intensive weekend, that had provided deeper appreciation of the difficulties that are being addressed as part of the BRIDGE 2 programme.
Welcome to - BRIDGE 2 - Corporate Social Responsibility
What is it all About?
Are you a successful business man or woman with a sense that you have a pretty good deal from life?
Do you think about people in other parts of the world whose existence is so poor that you can barely imagine how they cope? They can’t get out of the gutter by pulling on their own bootstraps - they need a helping hand.
BRIDGE 2 is about addressing this situation – not in a grandiose fashion but by providing opportunities for individuals to make a small difference. Of course, if sufficient people each make a small difference, then the combined impact will indeed be grandiose.
So how does it work?
First let’s clear the ground - our primary focus is not your money. Oh no, our goals are much bigger than that – much bigger!
Every successful business person has knowledge, skills, experience, contacts, opportunities and much more that would be invaluable elsewhere in the world to those who are desperate to reach the first rung of the ladder to self help.
The objective of BRIDGE 2 is to bring together those who have everything and those who have nothing and then see what happens when they interact.
- Do you have business ideas that could be implemented in third world countries?
- Do you have contacts that could benefit fledgling businesses?
- Do you have the time to mentor someone new in business; to help them put together a business plan, for example, or to obtain funding for a new project?
- Can you give advice on the myriad dilemmas faced by new businesses?
- Do you have what it takes to turn a failing business into something viable, perhaps even a roaring success?
These are just a few ideas of what we are looking for, but there are endless ways in which you can make a difference.
O, and before we forget, we do need money. If you can give, albeit small amounts, there are plenty of ways in which it can benefit of others.
But as we said, giving is not our primary focus. How about "investing" in small start-up businesses in which you already have an interest. In terms of the sums that are needed, the risk is small but the possible returns can be enormous in both monetary and human terms.
Do you have the ability and time to devote to training would-be entrepreneurs in aspects of setting up and running a business?
What other ways could you help those who have nothing to give in return but gratitude?
Why BRIDGE 2
A bridge is a means of moving from one place to another, typically by spanning a feature that would be impossible to cross any other way.

But whichever way you use it, a bridge has a definite destination; somewhere you really want to go.
BRIDGE 2 is about helping people escape poverty by crossing over all that oppresses them to reach their dreams.
