Business

purbeckgazette.co.uk Volunteers and charities hook up on website for gig economy employment

AN ONLINE job-matching platform celebrating its first anniversary has expanded to include voluntary work.

The move is expected to help charities and community groups desperately seeking volunteers.

Titled “gigr”, the platform is likened to a dating website for job seekers and is designed specifically for the gig economy. It was launched by Poole businessman Iain Robertson.

Business owners across a range of industries such as hospitality, delivery, cleaning, care, customer service and construction post jobs specifying the role they need filling, the experience required, the location and whether it’s a one-off ‘gig’, temporary or permanent.

Job seekers precisely matching these criteria then receive a live notification, view the details of the job and apply with one click.

Mr Robertson, who is the former headteacher and joint proprietor of Buckholme Towers School in Commercial Road, Poole, devised the online platform.

After leaving the world of education in 2018, a year before the school went into administration and then closed, he took up an office job. After realising the traditional Monday to Friday 9-to-5 model of employment was not working for him, the father of two started taking one-off jobs – or gigs – in offices, couriering or manual labour.

He said: “The biggest challenge was finding the gigs.

“I knew they were out there, but I had to trawl the internet, sometimes for hours, to find exactly what I wanted, when I wanted it.

“Then when I did find an advert for a suitable job, nine times out of 10, it had gone.

“It seemed crazy. In a world

Iain Robertson, founder of gigr

of smartphone technology, it should be at my fingertips.” gigr now has 2,000 users registered and operates nationwide.

Iain, 57, said: “gigr has grown steadily in the first year.

“It took six months to get the first 500 users and the last 500 users came in a month.

“Five hundred was our first milestone and then 1,000. The next is 5,000.”

Iain had been in discussion with Parkstone United Reformed Church in Ashley Cross about extending gigr to people seeking voluntary work – or charities and community groups looking for volunteers, and he introduced the feature after being contacted by volunteer worker Daniel Parkin.

Daniel, who only took up volunteering and community work during lockdown, said he came across the online jobmatching platform by accident.

Now a Trustee of Purbeck Youth and Community Foundation, he previously was a key volunteer with Surplus4Dorset.

The Parkstone Christadelphian Church initiative provided free surplus food to people and families in need in the BCP area.

Daniel, who works as an independent financial adviser with Strategic Solutions Financial Services, said: “The challenge we had was attracting volunteers.

“There were two main reasons to speak to Iain.

“How do we get volunteers but also how people who want to volunteer can be put in touch with charities and community groups.

“I was approached by one person who had been given a week’s leave by their employer to do voluntary work.

“But they had no way of finding out where to go or what to do. I think gigr is a brilliant idea and I love it.

“I’m keen to promote it to community groups and also push it to the likes of JP Morgan to say this is where your staff can look to find volunteer positions.”

Iain said: “gigr is working. People are finding jobs and getting matches.

“The majority of the demand at the moment is in the hospitality sector but other sectors such as delivery, cleaning, labouring and security work are busy.

“I’m always looking for ways of expanding and growing gigr but also how we can give back. This is the perfect opportunity.”

ANDREW DIPROSE dorsetbiznews.co.uk

The Achroma and Realm Runner Studios team

Shop opens for tabletop gamers

A SHOP and cafe for tabletop gamers has opened in Poole,

The Achroma shop and café at Dolphin Quays has been established by a group of friends who set up the independent and self-funded Realm Runner Studios to bring something fresh and progressive to collectible card games.

They invented and released their first product last year, titled Achroma: The Curse of Curdle Hill, and the shop provides a location for enthusiasts to meet and play.

Sitting somewhere between Pokémon and Magic The Gathering, Achroma has attracted a diverse player base. Tens of thousands of Achroma cards have been sold and more than a thousand app users registered.

Tabletop gamers can visit the shop to see and buy Achroma products. They can also play the game and hang out with other like-minded gamers.

The shop doubles up as the Realm Runner Studios HQ, meaning the Achroma team are on hand to answer any questions players have.

ANDREW DIPROSE dorsetbiznews.co.uk

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Big interest in business awards

ENTRIES for the new Purbeck Business Awards are exceeding expectations.

Organiser MW Events says the number of nominations has surpassed the expected numbers in the month since the awards were launched in late September.

The awards are described as grassroots businesses awards that focus on promoting the range and quality of local firms. Entry is free, and the entry form is simple. Businesses can enter as many categories as they want. The judging also breaks the mould, with judging online and even the judges do not know who the other judges are.

Nigel Reeve, of MW Events, said: “Local businesses and SMEs help drive the economy in this country. Large or small, they are the backbone of the UK economy driving recovery and prosperity.

“Until recently, business awards focused on larger-sized businesses and covered large geographical areas. These are different. The focus is on local businesses, working in conjunction with organisations like the local Chambers of Commerce and local BIDs.”

Entries close on Friday December 23, with the awards ceremony set to take place on Thursday, February 23, at Kingston Country Courtyard, near Corfe. For more details and to enter, visit purbeckbusinessawards.co.uk.

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