March, 2009 News

Having recently secured funding through Capacity Builders Social Enterprise North West invited organisations to tender for the delivery of a North West regional Peer to Peer programme. Following this tender exercise the successful organisation to be appointed was the Blackburn based Bootstrap Enterprises.

Social Enterprise North West will be in touch shortly with details of the programme 

Half day event - 21 April 2009, UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER CENTRE FOR LOCAL GOVERNANCE, Oxford Road, Manchester

The benefits of Housing Associations engaging with Social Enterprises A Centre for Local Governance Conference                                  

The Government is committed to giving Social Enterprises a bigger stake in providing a wider range of key services.
 
At the recent ‘VOICE 09’ social enterprise conference in Birmingham, Cabinet Office Minister, Liam Byrne, announced ambitious proposals for this expansion - laying emphasis on health services, welfare projects, youth clubs and Surestart schemes.

First book on Managing social enterprise launched by SAGE

Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore and Washington DC (18 March 2009) – As the government announces that social enterprises will be at the heart of the new economy, a new book aims to be the definitive ‘how to’ guide for managers in this rapidly growing sector.

Management for Social Enterprise, written by leading researchers from Liverpool John Moores University and published this week by SAGE, is the first title of its kind to offer support to managers in social enterprises. (For discount promotion number see attched flyer).

By Gemma Hampson Social Enterprise Magazine 24 March 2009

Around 800 leading social entrepreneurs and philanthropists from around the world are descending upon Oxford over the next three days for the Skoll World Forum.

The distinguished event is organised in a collaboration between the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford University's Saïd Business School, and the Skoll Foundation set up by eBay founder and billionaire Jeff Skoll, recently named the 397th richest man in the world by Forbes.

By Claudia Cahalane Social Enterprise Magazine 24 March 2009 

Blackpool could become the UK's first social enterprise town if Social Enterprise North West's (SENW) plans take off.

By David Ainsworth, Third Sector, 24 March 2009

Scheme will 'clarify common values'

The umbrella body for social enterprise has agreed to throw its weight behind the development of a social enterprise mark for its sector.

At a board meeting last week, the Social Enterprise Coalition agreed to work with Rise, the development organisation for south-west England, which created the social enterprise mark and has trialled it in the region over the past two years.

Description:

The First Light Movies Studio Award provides funding for organisations to produce between two and four films of up to 10 minutes long. The aim is to inspire young people through creative and imaginative filmmaking. The Studio Award is administered by First Light Movies (FLM) and funded by the BIG Lottery Fund.

Description:

v aims to inspire more investment in youth volunteering and help charities to involve young volunteers in their work. v are prioritising investing in projects that focus on engaging young people who have never volunteered before, including hard-to-reach and under-represented groups. Through the v Match Fund, v will match up to 100% of new investment from the private sector to fund projects which create volunteering opportunities for 16-25 year olds in England.

By Chrisanthi Giotis Social Enterprise Magazine 17 March 2009

A European-wide social enterprise has kicked off its plans to help football fans gain more control of their clubs.

Fans from Italian Serie B club Modena in Italy are already working towards a UK-style takeover of their club - turning it into a football trust.

By Gemma Hampson Social Enterprise Magazine 17 March 2009

Social enterprises are underselling themselves because there is no recognisable, national identity for the movement, according to a leading social entrepreneur.

Speaking in her first column for Social Enterprise magazine Penny Newman, CEO of Fifteen, said a quick, easy reference point was needed.

‘Now really is the time for us to drive a stake in the ground and claim our territory, and show others what we do and, particularly, encourage consumers and communities to understand what a social enterprise actually is,' she said.

Published by Jane Gething-Lewis for 24dash.com in Housing, Communities, Central Government 16th March 2009

Winter Willow design and produce willow craft products including bicycle baskets, garden sculpture and eco-coffins; they are just one of the fifteen innovative social enterprises that have won a place in this year’s Spark programme.

WInter Willow is joined by others including the Surrey based hospitality business Beyond Boyle, London landscaping company Eco-central Landscapes, and Newcastle-based Bike It.

All fifteen are thrilled to be part of Spark, which is a pioneering 9-month challenge designed to build and inspire organisations to tackle homelessness through social enterprise.

By Chrisanthi Giotis social Enterprise Magazine 16 March 2009

Banks have ‘increasingly denied' appropriate credit to social enterprises and small businesses for at least a decade, argues a report released by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) last week.

The report, titled I.O.U.K., claims banks have become too big and too removed from communities to be interested in supporting small enterprise activity, with local branch managers a thing of the past.

By Hannah Jordan, Third Sector Online, 16 March 2009

Abbey offers help on media relations 

A free online guide to help small third sector organisations improve their public relations has been launched by financial services firm Abbey.

The bank says its Abbey PR Guide provides a practical introduction to media relations, including issues such as working with corporate PR teams and hosting journalists at events.

New Start Magazine Barry McCarthy

MPs have urged the government to regularly monitor the business experience of staff and board members in regional development agencies after concerns were raised about their poor private sector knowledge.

They warned the continual increase in RDA responsibilities over the years had resulted in a loss of business focus. Since their creation in 1999, RDAs have taken on the administration of regional development grants, Business Link, the economic and social funding elements of the Rural Development Programme, and the European Regional Development Fund.

North West Evening Mail Thursday, 12 March 2009

ORGANISATIONS which offer care, advice, training and leisure opportunities are to share ideas on how to beat the credit crunch.

The groups will discuss ways of overcoming the economic crisis at a free conference at Keswick’s Theatre by the Lake on March 26.

By Claudia Cahalane Tuesday 10 March 2009

Divine Chocolate is not expecting sales to be affected by Cadbury's Dairy Milk going fair trade, it says.

Last week, the chocolate giant announced that all Dairy Milk bars sold in the UK and Ireland - 300 million bars every year - will contain fair trade cocoa and sugar by the end of the summer.

By Claudia Cahalane Tuesday 10 march 2009

The Co-operative Group will sell 24 stores to Sainsbury's in an £83m deal.

The sale is part of an agreement with the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to sell 133 stores following the Co-operative Group's £1.6bn buyout of Somerfield, announced last summer and formalised last week.

The sale to Sainsbury's, which is also subject to approval by the OFT, with that approval not due till May, follows the sale of 38 stores to Morrisons, 13 to Waitrose and a possible 15 to Tesco.

A pioneering fund set up to invest in projects designed to change the lives of young people from disadvantaged communities across Britain has been launched.

The Learning Launchpad fund will offer a range of investment packages designed to meet the needs of any organisation or individual with an idea to provide alternatives to traditional education to young people aged 14 to 25 years old.

By John Plummer, Third Sector, 3 March 2009

Shadow charities minister seeks to clarify sources of funding for £42.5m third sector action plan

Shadow charities minister Nick Hurd has tabled seven parliamentary questions about Futurebuilders England's budget to find out if it has been cut to help pay for the third sector action plan.

By Gemma Hampson Date posted: Thursday 26 February 2009

Futurebuilders England and Capacitybuilders will deliver the government's £16.5m modernisation fund, it was announced today.

The fund is part of the government's £42.5m third sector bail-out announced as part of the action plan, Real Help for Communities: Volunteers, Charities and Social Enterprises, announced earlier this month.

The fund - a mix of loans and grants - aims to help organisations become stronger and more resilient to the impact of the recession. 

European Social Fund Community Grants are small grants of up to £12,000 for voluntary and community organisations to help them reach disadvantaged people who are not in employment. The scheme is designed to make the European Social Fund (ESF) more accessible for groups without the capacity to apply for the main structural funds.

The European Social Fund (ESF) forms part of the European Structural Funds and aims to support sustainable economic growth and promote social inclusion throughout the UK by raising the skills levels of young people and adults and increasing employment rates in disadvantaged groups.

Published: 26 February 2009 Author: John Camm

Negative press reports about what is happening to household waste need to be tackled by a positive approach to the issue.

Those of us who dutifully do our recycling will have been disheartened by recent news items showing unsold waste languishing in storage until the market in recycling picks up — and if it doesn't, going to landfill.

By Chrisanthi Giotis Date posted: Tuesday 24 February 2009

Former New Order bass player Peter 'Hooky' Hook has helped set up a CIC to run a festival  in tribute to Factory records boss Tony Wilson

Music icon and New Order bass player Peter Hook has helped set up a social enterprise to run a festival in tribute to Factory Records boss and serial entrepreneur Tony Wilson.