SEKIC has moved

bevmeldrum — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 11:41:22 +0000

The Social Enterprise Blog has now moved.

Come and join us at For More Than Profit at http://formorethanprofit.wordpress.com/

Social Enterprise to Get Its Own Trademark

bevmeldrum — Thu, 10 May 2007 20:30:32 +0000

A new kite-mark and trade association for social enterprises is being piloted in the south-west of England aimed at creating a stake in the marketplace for social enterprises.

RISE, a support organisation for social enterprises in the south west and the Social Enterprise Coalition are working on the project. The trade association will give social enterprises to collaborate together and benefit from sector specific services. The partners involved in the pilot are hoping that the new association will be up and running by the end of 2007. The kite-mark, similar to the Fairtrade mark, will be the focus of a feasibility study before final decisions are made.

Cherry Read, Head of Policy and Communications at SEC explained that any kitemark would “have to reflect a minimum quality standard and given individual organisations the flexibility to demonstrate their work in different ways.”

Source: Third Sector 9 May 2007

Don’t Believe The Social Enterprise Hype Warns Centre For Charity Effectiveness

bevmeldrum — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 23:39:51 +0000

A new report to be launched on 2nd May 2007 by the Centre For Charity Effectiveness at the Cass Business School, London warns charities should be wary of thinking social enterprise will always be able to plug the funding gap.

The report will outline the pitfalls and struggles charities face when using a social enterprise approach and encourages organisations not to develop social enterprise unless they are sure there will be a market for their products or services.

Jean Barclay the author of the report says:

“There is so much hype about social enterprise that some people think it can create money out of nothing … Voluntary sector organisations can feel under pressure because social enterprises are seen as modern and dynamic, and charities can look old-fashioned in comparison. But the thing they’re missing out is that charities were created for situations in which there was no market.”

Source: The Third Sector, 18th April 2007 – http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/channels/SocialEnterprise/rss/article/651169/Forget-enterprise-hype-says-business-consultant/

Health Forum for Social Enterprises

bevmeldrum — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 19:37:20 +0000

Wedensday 23rd May, email contact below for details of venue

With growing interest in the opportunities presented for social enterprise in the health arena, Social Enterprise Coalition are holding a forum for leaders of social enterprises involved in health.

Minister of Health, Ivan Lewis has been invited to give a keynote address at this event.

The purpose of the forum is to create a member-led network that will undertake lobbying, provide support to other practitioners and information on developments in the area.

For more information email julie.dent@socialenterprise.org.uk

2007 Social Enterprise Awards Announced

bevmeldrum — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 15:13:23 +0000

This morning, at Jaime Oliver’s Fifteen restaurant the Enterprising Solutions Awards for 2007 were announced by the Social Enterprise Coalition.

A cash prize of £10,000 is available for the overall winner and three other finalists and the winner of the New Social Enterprise Award receive £5,000. The awards ceremony will be held on October 17th and nominations close on June 1st. The awards are sponsored by RBS, NatWest and the Cabinet Office.

The entries will be judged by a panel including Hilary Norman, the director of the Office of the Third Sector’s Social Enterprise Unit and Margaret Elliott, Director of Care Services at Sunderland Home Care Associates who were last year’s overall winner.

For more information and a nomination form visit – http://www.enterprisingsolutions.org/

Source: Third Sector Daily, 2 April 2007

Community Land Trusts Event: This Land Is Yours

bevmeldrum — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 09:38:16 +0000

A one day national conference looking at the latest policy and practical developments with interactive workshops, a question time panel discussion. Delegates will receive a copy of ‘Community Land Trusts: A Practitoner’s Guide’ which will be launched at the event.

Date: 26th April 2007

Venue: Wolverhampton Science Park

For more information visist www.clt-conference.co.uk

Charities could lose millions due to tax cuts

bevmeldrum — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 11:49:08 +0000

The 2p reduction in the basic rate of income tax, announced in Gordon Brown’s budget statement on Wednesday, could mean charitable organisations will face a shortfall in the amount they receive through the gift aid scheme unless employees increase their donations at no extra cost to themselves.

Current charities can reclaim income tax on money donated by workers out of their wages but Under the initiative, charities can reclaim income tax on money donated by workers out of their wages but from April 2008 when a new tax regime comes into effect charities will only be able to reclaim £2.50 on a £10 donation as opposed to £2.82 as it stands currently. This potentially means charities will lose out on millions of pounds in donations every year.

To read the full story visit http://society.guardian.co.uk/voluntary/

Funding Secured For New Homeless Network

bevmeldrum — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 11:09:19 +0000

A new network of social enterprises and other organisations working with unemployed homeless people is being launched by Off The Streets and Into Work. The network has been funded by The Big Lottery and will be called the 3xE Network ot the Ethical, Enterprise and Employment Network.

For more information contact ianperkins@osw.org.uk

Charity V launches new volunteering website

bevmeldrum — Fri, 16 Mar 2007 09:42:43 +0000

A new website launched this week to inspire young people to volunteer.

Aimed at 16 – 25 year olds www.vinspired.com has been set up by the charity V giving information and guidance on volunteering

The site, www.vinspired.com, has been set up by the charity V to act as a national gateway for information and guidance on volunteering. The site features blogs, questions and answer forums, a chatroom, case studies and opportunities for young volunteers with charities such as the British Red Cross and Global Xchange.

V, the charity was founded in 2006 to implement the recommendations under the Russell commission and has been given £50m by the government over the last 3 years to create volunteering opportunities through grants and to encourage young people to participate in helping their local communities.

Terry Ryall, the chief executive of V said “I’m delighted that by working closely with young people, YouthNet and others in the sector, we have been able to deliver a truly interactive, youth-focused site that we believe will make a real difference for young people.”

The website has been a success alreading with more than 2000 people signing up before it was even launched officially.

Sarah Ford, one of the website’s designers said “I’ve loved being involved in creating the portal and i’m looking forward to seeing how the site develops as more and more people share their blogs, images and video clips. It’s a great place to find out about volunteering experiences and i’m sure there will be many funny and unusual stories that show how exciting and diverse volunteering can be.”

For more information on volunteering with V call 0800 089 9000 or visit the site at www.vinspired.com

Society Guardian March 2007

BigInvest’s plans to transform businesses into social enterprises

bevmeldrum — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 13:58:42 +0000

BigInvest has pioneered a new social fund that will buy out conventional businesses and turn them into social enterprises and help create employment for disadvantaged people.

The new Social Buy Out Fund is hoping it will attract between £5m and £10m investment and provide returns of between 5% and 10%.

Chief Executive of BigInvest, Nigel Kershaw said “It just struck me in this eureka moment that we spend a lot of time creating start-ups so why couldn’t we do scale-ups?”

Mr Kershaw went on to say “Why can’t we take firms and turn them into social enterprise? This would enable us to open new social enterprises very fast. We would avoid all the problems associated with start ups, such as finance and growth. We are taking a buy out and acquisition model, saying ‘here is a way you can use these financial instruments to create change’. We could then convert all workers from a minimum wage to a living wage.”

BigInvest currently directs all its profits into the Big Issue Foundation. It is hoping to raise £2m for two projects that will test the new scheme over the next year.

The pilot gets the thumbs up from Allison Ogden-Newton, Chief Executive of Social Enterprise London who said it was a great idea.