May, 2010 News

The Supporters Direct national conference will be taking place on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13th June 2010. Titled A Better Vision for Football, the conference is being organised on the back of a growing political consensus about the potential for football fans to buy out their clubs by setting up co-operatives. The new Coalition Government has pledged to support the creation of mutually-owned clubs in its 'Programme for Government'.

Liverpool Vision has a vacancy for an Information and Claims Co-ordinator. The main purpose of the job is to manage the CRM on-line management information system, generate claims and reports and audit performance of a series of contracts, managed through the system.

Closing date: 04/06/2010

Salary: Band 2, salary range £20,000 - £30,000. 

Click here for further information and to apply.

The Plaza Community Cinema in partnership with Sefton Leisure Services (Positive Futures) are pleased to announce another Autism/Disability Friendly Film screening to be hosted at the new-look Plaza on Monday 14th June.

This month Plaza are featuring the new release 'Space Chimps 2: Zartog Strikes Back'. The screening will start at 5.30pm. Many parents have said this is an ideal time as it does not disrupt the bedtime routine for the young people and enables them to prepare for school the next day.

Liverpool City Council is holding an Environmental Policy Briefing on 21st June 2010 in association with Comtechsa Ltd and Groundwork Merseyside. The briefing is open to any voluntary and community organisation in Liverpool.

It will be of special interest to any organisation expecting to apply to the council's Community Resources Unit main grants programme in September. The new grant programme is likely to require all applicants to have an environmental policy.

The purpose of the briefing is to:

It is hoped that Social Enterprise Network will shortly be able to offer 2 days consultancy support for 90 social enterprises on Greater Merseyside. In order to gather information about the area of support that is most required by social enterprises on Merseyside we are asking SEN members to complete a Business Support Questionnaire.

Click here to download the 'Social Enterprise Business Support Questionnaire'.

The Phone Co-op has re-launched its social enterprise fund which provides resources to social enterprises to help them at critical stages in their development.

How does it work?

The fund offers £250 to each social enterprise in the form of a credit on your Phone Co-op bills. The money can be used to pay for any telecoms products or services provided by the Phone Co-op, including fixed line and mobile telecoms, broadband, web hosting, and phone systems.

Who is Eligible?

Outlining the programme for the new government, the Queen's speech included a starring role for social enterprise as the new Liberal Conservative coalition promised a stronger role for social enterprise in the public sector.

Via: Chrisanthi Giotis, socialenterpriselive.com

Today's Queen's Speech installing the new government has been hailed as a 'milestone' after the words 'social enterprises' were uttered by her majesty.

Co-operatives North West Limited (CNW) is inviting tenders for two roles: Communications Manager and Project Manager. The roles are based on an all-inclusive freelance contract of £22 per hour.

Co-operatives North West does not have a physical office- contractors may be based anywhere- and face to face meetings will be expected from time to time. Funding for these roles is secure until March 2011 and comes from the NWDA, through CNW's membership of Social Enterprise North West. Both roles will be managed by CNW's Business Development Manager (Jo Bird).

The Co-operative College is running a number of one day courses in Manchester targeted specifically at those working in or around co-operatives and social enterprises.

The courses are aimed at Board Members, Members and Managers of co-operative and social enterprises.

There are a number of short courses on offer including:

Co-operatives North West, in partnership with Business Link Northwest, are pleased to offer this post election conference, as part of Co-operatives Fortnight. The conference will take place on Friday 2nd July from 9.30am-2.40pm at New Century House, the Co-operative Group, Corporation Street, Manchester, M60 4ES.

Dot-art is delighted to announce the launch of their new exhibition space, The Mere Grange Gallery in St Helens. The first exhibition to be held in the gallery is a group show entitled 'A Celebration of Colour', featuring the work of thirteen artists from across the region, which launched on Thursday 20th May.

Selnet (Social Enterprise Lancashire Network) are currently seeking a part-time Operations Support Officer to support the existing Selnet team in developing and promoting the social enterprise Lancashire network across Lancashire and beyond.

The Operations Support Officer will also be required to work with the team to further develop member services to enhance the existing framework for all network members and partners.

Getting back into education is a big step for many people and negative experiences at school or with other learning providers may have left you feeling anxious about embarking upon a course. Blackburne House Education recognise this and are currently offering a number of education courses.

Blackburne House have many years experience tackling barriers that commonly prevent people returning to education, so they are confident that you'll find studying with them a very positive experience.

Tucked away from the hustle and bustle of Hope Street is Blackburne House's delightful cafe bar. Tuck in to delicious paninis, salads and freshly prepared lunches by day or relax for the evening with a mediterranean inspired meal and a glass of wine with friends.

New for Spring 2010

Blackburne House Cafe Bar is now open 9am to 11pm Monday to Thursday and 9am to 5.30pm Friday, so pop in through our new evening Cafe entrance on Falkner Street.

Back by popular demand!

Choose Life, a social enterprise that delivers drug awareness training, has won a string of new contracts to train prison officers in how to recognise and deal with drug addiction amongst prisoners.

Via: Mark Johnson, bootletimes.co.uk

A Bootle-based social enterprise that runs programmes to alert people to the dangers of drug use has won a string of new contracts.

Evidencing environmental compliance in your tender submissions is a critical success factor in securing public sector contracts. This seminar has been designed to help social enterprises and other third sector organisations better demonstrate their impact on the environment.

Evidencing environmental compliance in an increasingly competitive contracting environment can mean the difference between success and failure. It is typically worth around 10% of your overall tender score. Being able to demonstrate your environmental credentials is very important.

Wirral based social enterprise Urban Quay currently have a training/meeting room for hire at their premises in Hamilton Square. Rates begin at £55 per day or £35 per half-day.

Hire of the room includes the use of:

• Laptop
• Projector & Screen
• Flipchart
• Whiteboard
• 50" Flat Screen Television

Tea, Coffee and Water included.

Training/Meeting room is located at 62 Hamilton Square, Birkenhead, Wirral, CH41 5AT.

ippr north, in partnership with the Manchester Museum, would like to invite you to take part in the first in a new series of Cafe Politique events in the North West, chaired by Ed Cox, Director of ippr north.

Leaders of the social enterprise movement have issued a warning to the newly formed Liberal/Conservative Coalition government, stating that it is essential that the Government work with the sector to realise its vision of a 'Big Society'.

Via Gemma Hampson, socialenterpriselive.com

The government must work closely with social enterprise experts to realise its vision of the Big Society, leaders of the movement said today (19/05/10).

David Cameron has pledged a much greater and deeper involvement for the social enterprise sector in the approaching reform of public services, following a meeting with ministers, activists and key figures in the social enterprise movement.

Via: Gemma Hampson, socialenterpriselive.com

Social enterprise is at the heart of a 'deep and serious' reform of public services as part of the Big Society agenda, Prime Minister David Cameron said today.

Social Enterprise Network is seeking to co-opt a board member to fill a vacancy until the next Annual General Meeting in September.

All members of the board of directors must be representatives of members. A vacancy has ocurred for a suitable member to be co-opted until the AGM at the end of September when they would be obliged to stand for election for a three year term. The role is unpaid.

Board meetings are usually held on a Wednesday morning on a monthly basis.

The next three dates are:

Open Eye Gallery will be hosting a Photographers' Network Meeting on Tuesday 25th May 2010 from 6.30pm featuring guest speaker Conohar.

Following his appointment as the new minister responsible for the voluntary sector Nick Hurd has announced his intention to cut interference and red tape in an attempt to make life easier for the third sector.

Via: Tim West, socialenterpriselive.com

The new minister for civil society, Nick Hurd, says he will cut bureaucracy and interference to make life easier for the sector.

The Office for the Third Sector is set to be replaced by a new department, the Office for Civil Society, which will take responsibility for charities, social enterprises and voluntary organisations.

Via Vibeka Mair, civilsociety.co.uk

The Office of the Third Sector is to be replaced by the Office of Civil Society, which will take responsibility for charities, social enterprises and voluntary organisations in the cabinet office.

All eyes are on the changes to policy and programmes that the new DWP Minister will sweep in. Inclusion is now putting the finishing touches to the Convention programme so it reflects the latest developments.

With over 1,000 delegates attending the Welfare to Work Convention, it is the annual meeting place to learn, debate and network. This week over 700 delegates are already booked on and over 50 exhibition stands have been confirmed.