Social Enterprise
A Social Enterprises is a business that operates within the Third Sector. It is set up to make money but also to have a positive effect on the community it serves, the people with whom it works and its own employees. Surplus or profit generated is reinvested in the business or the community. Ownership of the business rests with the stakeholders, for example the workforce, customers or the community,
B&NES CVS have developed an introductory Social Enterprise Information Pack to help you access information to explore whether a social enterprise is the right structure for your organisation. The pack contains case studies, finance information and a list of useful links and resources. This webpage supports the information pack by providing information on new publications, training, funding opportunities etc. as we become aware of them. Also see our Funding Page and the funding calendar
 |
News
Funding
Social
Enterprise Venture Capital Fund - Ethical bank Triodos has launched
this new venture capital fund with £3million to invest in UK social
enterprises. The 'Triodos opportunities fund' aims to invest between
£200,000 and £750,000 in social enterprises that have a proven
business model and are looking to enlarge their operations.
Triodos will work closely with companies looking at long-term
development rather than short-term profit and using its network of
social economy partners to forge connections and open doors. More
information on the
Triodos website.
Award
scheme for social enterprises
- the Bank of Scotland offers a £6 Million
Award scheme to support two social enterprises. The scheme is open to
any not for profit organisation within the UK which has been operating
for at least two years. The main focus of the organisation must be
to address issues of social concern or to further social and/or
environmental goals for non-commercial purposes and social or community
benefit. Applicants can apply for one of two awards. Up to £5 million of
funding in the form of a interest free loan or a donation of up to
£500,000; and up to £1 million of funding in the form of a interest free
loan or a donation of up to £100,000. The actual amount of funding
offered to each winner will be dependent on their needs and situation.
Closing date: 23 February 2009. See
http://entrepreneurs.bankofscotland.co.uk/social/index.html
Support for community enterprises - due to high demand,
applications to Adventure Capital Fund's (ACF's) Main Investment and
Managed Workspace Funds are currently closed to applications but are
likely to be re-opened in March/April 2009.
Community enterprises in their early development stage can still
apply for grants of up to £15,000 though the ACF Business Development
Fund. The application cycles for the next six to eight months will be
from October 21st until December 12th 2008; from February 2nd until
March 14th 2009; and from May 4th until May 29th 2009.
http://www.adventurecapitalfund.org.uk/
Triodos
Opportunities Fund for social enterprises will invest between
£200,000 and £750,000 to help companies with a proven business model who
are looking to scale up their operations. Triodos will also use its
network of partners to offer new connections and help businesses
succeed. See
Triodos Website.
Publications
Social Enterprise and Healthcare - Two recent reports have
heralded a 'new wave' of public service reforms which aim to put more
services in the hands of social enterprises. The Cabinet Office report,
Excellence and fairness: achieving world class
public services and the final report for the Darzi review,
'High quality care for all' include
measures to enable staff working in community health services to opt out
of primary care trusts and set up their own social enterprises.
Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Social Enterprises - the business of
opportunity and empowerment.
The Social Enterprise Coalition has launched a publication that
showcasing social enterprise in BAME communities.
BAME social enterprises are already a powefrul force in the UK in all
kinds of communities. To order your copy of the publication email:
publications@socialenterprise.org.uk,
or call 020 7793 2323.
Social
Enterprise: Making it work for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Women
This report examines the barriers faced by BAME women wishing to set up
social enterprises, their motivations and identifies ways to further
support and encourage BAME women to pursue this enterprise model. See
the full report on the
Government Equalities website.
The Business IT Guide, developed by e-skills UK is a free online tool that helps small businesses make better use of IT and subsequently improve efficiency and productivity. It is funded by SWRDA and free to all businesses in the South West. See the Fact sheet. From next year, local authorities will be required to procure all goods and services online. Small firms risk missing out on lucrative public sector contracts if they are not ready for e-commerce.
Your
Ethical Business: How to plan, start and succeed in a company with a
conscience. Author Paul Allen
Covers everything you need to know about setting up an ethichal business
- including a social enterprise. Also full of ideas are to how you can
make your existing enterprise more ethical. Available for £10 from
http://www.thetoolfactory.net/
Trailblazers Magazine 2008 - this is a free
publication published each year to mark Social Enterprise Day (20 Nov
08) and contains inspirational accounts of how people have realised
ideas for social and environmental change. Download from the
Social Enterprise Coalition website.
Training & Advice
Free information and advice to anyone starting or developing social enterprises provided by Co-active following a pilot run by RISE (see evaluation on www.rise-sw.co.uk). A qualified social enterprise advisor will help you to develop early ideas about your enterprise, and guide you through a set of activities designed to enable you to progress your plans. Training courses are also available where appropriate. Get a free information pack by sending your name, the name of your enterprise if it is already trading and your postal address to referrals@co-active.org.uk or by calling Business Link on 0845 600 9 006.
Events
Understanding Social Enterprise Programme - a three-day course: 20 January, 17 February & 17 March 2009. Run by acevo and Social Enterprise London, the programme includes: Values and purposes of social enterprise; appropriate organisational and legal structures; finance and support and a case study on an emerging or established social enterprise. The programme is endorsed by SFEDI, accredited by the Institute of Leadership and Management as a Vocationally Related Qualification (VRQ) level 5. Cost: £200 deposit (including £75 ILM registration fee). £125 will be returned when you finish the programme. For more information see www.sel.org.uk or contact Joyce Francis on 020 7022 1930 or joyce@sel.org.uk
Resources
Business planning software
Includes start up and social enterprise business plan writing tools
which produce full financial reports and pulls everything together into
a single document which can be printed, saved as a PDF or exported to
Microsoft Word for further editing. Other tools include a Social Impact
Tracker, a monitoring database that measures your social impact for
creating your reports, an e-newsletter writer and a “how to” guide when
establishing an ethical business. Visit the
Tool Factory website for more
information.