Self Improvement Community Interest Company

Most people have heard of personal development, but most do not think of the people who engage in personal growth activities as being a part of a community. Just as those who are interested in Yoga (for instance), can be said to be a section of the personal growth community - in that they are interested in a particular route to self improvement and seem to gravitate toward each other by joining courses, retreats and the like – so too do people interested in their (and others’) personal growth.

The Self Improvement Community Interest Company (SICIC for short), was set up by me to cater for the needs of the personal growth community. A Community Interest Company is a particular kind of company (registered in the UK). It is a not-for-profit company dedicated to working in the interests of the community it serves. The "community" is a community of like-minded individuals who share an interest, or even a passion, for personal growth - especially for themselves but also those engaged in guiding others.

What I am going to share in this blog is some of the reasons why I think this company is needed, and who is setting it up. Starting with a list of what (in relation to this company) the term ‘personal development’ is not.

What Does Personal Development Mean?

When the company talks about Personal Development, it is NOT talking about:

• Medical improvements
• Education of children or youths
• Further or Higher Education of adults toward Vocational or Academic qualifications
• Career or CPD (except where it might relate directly with personal development skills/knowledge)
• Religious or New Age Personality Guru worship

Therefore falls outside mainstream funding from government for education, medicine or career development.

When the company talks about Personal Development, it IS talking about:

• Empowering people through their lifelong process of self improvement
• Developing self esteem, confidence, assertiveness, stress management, emotional intelligence, self awareness, and numerous other skills
• Using NLP, relaxation, meditation, goal setting, creative visualisation, TFT, and a myriad of other techniques, with an emphasis on self-help
• Being advocates of using safe therapeutic processes as self help (not denying there may occasionally be need for professional therapeutic (or medical) intervention)
• An interest in human potential

Who Runs Self Improvement Community Interest Company?

There are, at present, two members who are also the Directors. The CEO is Colin Ellis (yes, that's me). I have been studying personal growth for over two decades, teaching personal development within Adult Education and Further Education for over 10 years, and also a fully qualified and insured therapist for over 3 years.