December, 2009 News

As the war of words between Unite's Tony Woodley and the wider social enterprise sector continues to escalate, Social Enterprise London's Allison Ogden-Newton provides her view of the situation.

Allison Ogden-Newton Guardian.co.uk

Successful marketing plays a major part in running a social business. As such SENW in collaboration with the Office of the Third Sector are running a series of Marketing master-classes during early January.

The master-classes are to be presented by Alistair Clarke who has presented media training seminars for more than 15 years, mainly to public sector bodies- like health trusts and senior investigating police officers- but also major private clients including management at Tesco, Knight Frank and MPs.

BBC's Dragons Den is now entering its eighth series, continuing its search for the countries best entrepreneurs.  

'Entrepreneurs from across the country once again have a chance to make their business dreams come true by appearing on Dragons' Den. If you're genuinely seeking investment for your business idea or invention, we'd like to hear from you.'

Liverpool Centre for Arts Development, located in a convenient city centre location, currently has a meeting room space which is available for hire or rent.

The room is well equipped with the building being entirely wireless enabled with disabled access.

LCAD are able to supply, on request, additional equipment including overhead projectors, laptops, screens, whiteboard etc.

LCAD can be found at 2a Francey's Street, off Brownlow Hill, Liverpool, L3 5YQ. 

Greater Merseyside Change Up are hosting Passmark 2010 Training Courses by specialist bid consultants, Tender Management. This course is ideal for organisations wanting 'first step' knowledge and key tips about tendering and procurement.

The Health Work and Well-being Challenge Fund has been launched to improve the health and welfare of workers. The fund will provide qualifying projects with funding of between £1,000 to £50,000 a year.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) minister Lord McKenzie is inviting small and medium sized businesses and local partnerships to bid for a share of the Health Work and Well-being Challenge Fund from today.

Lord McKenzie invited Small and Medium businesses, saying:

The Commission on Co-operative and Mutual Housing is seeking commitments from politicians to increase co-op housing. This follows a report by the Commission which claims that mutual and co-op housing models produce better communities and above average satisfaction ratings from residents.

Chrisanthi Giotis SocialEnterpriseLive.com

Politicians are being urged to pledge a massive increase in co-op and mutual housing.

Granby Toxteth Development Trust (GTDT) are currently seeking to expand their successful team of self-employed business advisors. They are looking for appropriately qualified, experienced and self motivated individuals with up to date, proven knowledge of working within the sector. 

Applicants must be SFEDI accredited and will provide information, advice and guidance- as well as plenty of encouragement- as part of a user-friendly, client-centred service.

The Labour Party continues to push community involvement in public services with the call from cabinet minister Tessa Jowell that enterprises owned by staff or communities should have a greater involvement in the running of social services. 

Chrisanthi Giotis SocialEnterpriseLive.com

Cabinet minister Tessa Jowell will today (15/12/09) say that enterprises owned by staff or communities should deliver more social services.

Following a second strike by HCT staff, Dai Powell, boss of the HCT group, has accused trade union Unite of 'failing to grasp' social enterprise. Unite have accused HCT of 'getting fat' off the backs of workers, despite the company reinvesting its surpluses into the community.

Gemma Hampson SocialEnterpriseLive.com

The boss of HCT Group has condemned trade unions for failing to grasp the concept of social enterprise.

Improve your businesses environmental performance with the help of Groundwork Merseyside's ENWORKS funded business support programme. This programme of support is tailored to help your business reduce its carbon footprint and improve energy efficiency.

Resource efficiency will help make your business more competitive, particularly with growing supply chain pressure to demonstrate reduced environmental impact.

Groundwork's team of Business Advisors can help you to identify cost savings within your business.

In need of some new skills? Looking to bolster your existing skills base? The Office of the Third Sector in collaboration with SENW are funding a series of free skills master classes for social enterprises in the Northwest.

Courses start January 2010 and include seminars in Marketing, Strategic Business Planning, Workplace Learning and more. Places are very limited so be sure to book early.

For further information and to book your place on the event, view the flyer below.

Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council is currently seeking quotations for the Provision of Intensive Business Support to Social Enterprises in Knowsley that have been operating for three years or more.

Please note that this opportunity is available via Due North 'The Chest'; which is a North West portal for tender/business opportunities. You will be required to register (registration is free). Once registered you will receive instructions on the tendering/quotation process.

A completely re-worked, slimmed down version of the Compact has been launched. The 'refreshed' compact aims to define and set out an agreement as to how public and third sector organisations should treat each other. The new version of the Compact should prove to be much easier to understand and interpret for those who were previously unfamiliar with the agreement.

Andy Ricketts thirdsector.co.uk

A radically slimmed-down version of the Compact has been published today.

The SENW (Social Enterprise North West)  winter newsletter has landed! Find out all of the latest social enterprise news from across the Northwest region.

SENW is working hard to strengthen the social enterprise sector across the Northwest and you can read about some of the success stories so far.

Click here to download the latest SENW newsletter in PDF format. 

Greater Merseyside Advancement Network Prototype are offering FREE advisor training, specifically directed towards third sector organisations working with adults (19+) on issues relating to improving learning and employment prospects.

Advisers working within the following types of organisations are eligible to access training:

'The Role of the Chair' is a one-day course designed to support chairs of cultural/third sector organisations and to look at best practice in fulfilling the role of Chair, looking at the role in detail and taking a practical approach to its key aspects. 

The day also gives a rare opportunity to meet with chairs of other cultural/third sector organisations and exchange ideas and experiences.

In a move to encourage investment in socially responsible businesses the Aros Altru Fund is seeking to solicit investments of over £6m. If successful the fund would be one of the first private equity funds in the UK to invest only in social businesses.

David Ainsworth thirdsector.co.uk

A new £6m social investment fund will aim to invest in businesses in the UK and abroad that provide positive social benefits.

A consultation carried out by the Office of the Third Sector has revealed that the majority of respondents wish to see the proposed Social Investment Wholesale Bank 'independent' of both government and private sector retailers.

David Ainsworth thirdsector.co.uk

The proposed social investment wholesale bank should be independent from both government and retailers, according to most of the 80 respondents to an Office of the Third Sector consultation.

Alistair Darling has brought the idea of a social investment wholesale bank a step closer to reality with the announcement of 'up to £75m' of start-up funding to get the bank up and running. A social investment wholesale bank would seek to increase investment in social businesses and support the development of the social enterprise sector as a whole.

Clare Goff newstartmag.co.uk

Highlighting the enormous contribution that social enterprises make to the economy and society, the Social Enterprise Awards have recognized the leading social enterprises of 2009. With over 5,500 votes the 'Brighter Future Workshop' has emerged as the overall winner.

Gemma Hampson SocialEnterpriseLive.com

A company that trains people with disabilities to fix mobility equipment has been named social enterprise of the year by winning a people's vote.

Join Blackburne House as they switch on their christmas lights on Friday 11th December at 6pm. It promises to be a festive evening of carol singing, mince pies and mulled wine.

Blackburne House would like to give one lucky winner the opportunity to switch on the lights AND win a dinner for 2 in the Blackburne House Cafe Bar- the hidden gem off Hope Street.

To enter visit www.blackburnehouse.co.uk and say in no more than 15 words, 'What Hope Street means to you'.

St Marks Community and Enterprise Centre are hosting a free 'Energy Audit Training Day', delivered by The Energy Saving Trust. The event is to take place on 6th January 2010 from 9.45am to 4.30pm.

The training is geared to helping community buildings (including advice for old and listed buildings) assess and then reduce their energy usage. Free lunch and refreshments are to be provided.

For more information on the course content, click here.

Investors keen to see how their money is delivering social value, are generating increased interest in the use of Social Return on Investment (SROI) throughout the social enterprise sector. A recent two day conference on the subject has raised a variety of different views on the issue...

Chrisanthi Giotis SocialEnterpriseLive.com

Investors across the world are helping drive interest in measuring social return on investment (SROI), say leading practitioners gathered in London for a two-day conference.

Liverpool Vision is launching the Stepclever Social Enterprise Challenge in early 2010. It is open to new and existing social entrepreneurs who want to establish trading social enterprises in the Stepclever area (North Liverpool and South Sefton).