The Melting Pot Social Impact Report 2018

The Melting Pot’s 2018 Social Impact Report examined the composition, work and reported reach of the membership at its Edinburgh coworking centre. It described The Melting Pot as Scotland’s Centre for Social Innovation and outlined its work across coworking and collaboration, social-venture incubation, and support for coworking operators. The report stated that the organisation had 119 members and compared selected demographic measures with global coworking figures. Members included employees, freelancers, consultants, founders and volunteers, and their average involvement with The Melting Pot had lasted four years. The report also considered where members’ work had an impact, ranging from Edinburgh and the Lothians to Scotland, the wider United Kingdom and international markets. It reported that most respondents worked for small and medium-sized organisations with fewer than 100 employees, while one-third had founded their organisation. Measures of organisational reach indicated substantial variation: some members’ work benefited small groups, while other respondents reported reaching thousands or millions of people annually. The document introduced the Coworking Canvas, developed by The Melting Pot and its Coworking Accelerator team, as a framework for exploring the centre’s social impact, collaboration and significance to its community.

Key findings

• The Melting Pot reported 119 members; 49% were female, 51% male, and 72% were over 35.
• Members reported work at international (34%), Scotland-wide (29%), wider UK (25%), Edinburgh (6%) and Lothians (2%) scales, with 4% classified as other.
• Among respondents, 36% said their work reached 1–200 people annually, while 21% reached hundreds, 20% thousands, 16% tens of thousands and 7% millions.

Published by The Melting Pot, 2018