Profit for Good: Case Study 1

Interview with Claire Wayman, Sunshine Co-operative & The Sunrise Workshop

Profit for Good 2025 participant, Claire Wayman, runs the social enterprise Sunshine Co-operative – a retailer of locally sourced, sustainable food. There is an online shop and a grocery shop in High Street West in Sunderland which is staffed by people who struggle to thrive in other workplaces. A new workshop site in Hendon will offer community food and cooking sessions, as well as a subscription membership.

Q: Unlike many Profit for Good participants, you’ve always been an enterprise, why is that?
A: Yes. We set up with a cooperative structure because we’ve always seen local people, local economy and local environment as interconnected. Trading, social impact and cooperative membership sit at the heart of what we do – I never pick the easy route, but we’ve built it step by step.

Q: What attracted you to Profit for Good?
A: Back on the Map mentioned it when we were exploring a fruit and veg shop idea. What appealed was the wraparound support – not just funding and a report at the end, but actual learning, structure, accountability.

Q: What have you learned from Profit for Good?
A: That financial sustainability isn’t separate from social impact – it’s part of it. It’s helped me map out the whole process: who’s ‘on the bus’, financial sustainability, the people we need. People matter more than anything. We attract a certain kind of customer, they’re supportive, community minded. We’re a “sunshine beacon” – you feel who fits.

Q: How does the local focus shape your work?
A: When I moved back to Sunderland in 2010 it wasn’t thriving. My focus is always: how do you build a healthy local food system, local skills, local economy? Everything from buying from local growers, to reducing packaging, to teaching people to cook.

There’s a global food crisis, global energy crisis. But if you start with buying local you’re actually putting back into your own community.

At the end of the day, you are what you eat and there’s huge health problems here. It’s all connected to local people’s health and the area’s long-term resilience.

Q: What are your long term plans?
A: The new unit on Villette Road – leased from local charity Back on the Map – changed everything. Now along with the fruit and veg shop, we can run cooking classes, community sessions and proper skills development. Customers already tell us what they’re cooking, so bringing them in to teach others feels right. It’s not just about us teaching, it’s building community skills and pride.

We’re converting a kitchen and dining room above the shop so we can use that space, for baking bread, for community groups, or hiring it out for meetings. I’ve got so many ideas. My team tell me I’ve got to slow down.

Q: What impact is your enterprise is having?
We’re working on improving our impact reporting. But we’re always capturing the stories, the poetry, the customer reflections, the volunteer journeys. We’ve got loads.

Q: What’s been the best part of Profit for Good?
A: The cohort. Honestly, they’re brilliant. We’ve already started collaborating – with Richy, for example, linking to youth gardening projects. And we’re determined to keep the group going after the programme ends.

Update: The Sunrise shop on Villette Road has now opened, with cookery classes and community activities already underway!