August, 2010 News

The School for Social Entrepreneurs is set to expand both nationally and internationally. The School which has 10 franchises across England and Wales, including one in Liverpool, based in Blackburne House, is seeking to develop following another busy year.

via David Ainsworth, thirdsector.co.uk

The School for Social Entrepreneurs is planning to extend its services in England and move into Wales, as well as opening schools in New Zealand and Canada.

Striding Out is giving 10 young people the opportunity to take part in a Summer Academy to help them develop their own social enterprise.

The Social Pioneer Summer Academy is for young people aged 18-25 who are resident in Liverpool, and have an idea for a social enterprise. A social enterprise is a business which operates for a social or environmental purpose and impact, and reinvest's its profit to further support its cause and mission.

Are you planning or already running a project that has an environmental, community or cultural impact? Can a young person aged 18-24 help you to run your project? Could you provide a junior leadership role?

If the answer is YES to these questions and you are based in Liverpool, then we can offer your organisation a grant of £4,550 to cover the wage of a young person working for you over a period of 6 months.

Egerton House will be hosting an open day for all members of Businesswirral, WIN, FSB, and Wirral Chamber to preview their new contemporary Bistro and Business Hub.

You are invited to view the exciting new facilities, enjoy complimentary delicious food and drink from the Bistro and learn more about what Egerton House can offer your business. The open day is set to take place on Monday 6th September from 12 noon onwards or Wednesday 8th September from 5.30pm onwards.

Plaza Community Cinema is pleased to announce the dates of the upcoming Autism/Disability Friendly Screenings beginning in September 2010.

• Monday 13th September
• Monday 11th October
• Monday 8th November
• Monday 13th December

Plaza will be screening Marmaduke (U 87 mins) at the usual time of 5.30pm on Monday 13th September.

For more information please e-mail: barry@plazacinema.org.uk

Government plans to transfer NHS services into the hands of social enterprises have been met by a legal challenge from trade union Unison. The action was made following a lack of consultation on the latest NHS White Paper; Liberating the NHS.

via Gemma Hampson, socialenterpriselive.com

Unison is taking the Department of Health to court over its refusal to consult on the recent white paper, which stated the department wanted to create the 'largest social enterprise sector in the world.'

Open Eye Gallery are hosting another photographers' network meeting on Tuesday 31st August at 6.30pm at their gallery at 28-32 Wood Street, Liverpool.

Stephen Clarke's long-term project looks at the representation of family holidays since the 1950s. He works with a variety of media, making digital montages, combining his own photographs with found images, and tracing wall drawings from family snapshots.

Homeless entrepreneurs with a business idea that can take them into employment and independent living are being sought to take part in Sparklers 2010.

Sparklers provide opportunities for homeless entrepreneurs to develop both new business ideas and the skills to run their own businesses.

Sparklers 2010 was launched by founders John Montague, CEO of the TREES group, and Nigel Kershaw, Chair of Big Issue Invest.

As of the 1st September 2010 NEET Futures CIC will be offering the 1 Day Emergency First Aid at Work (Appointed Person) qualification.

The course is suitable for all workplace environments as a minimum standard and many organisations may wish to 'add value' to their service offering by including this qualification to their customers.

As always, NEET Futures are able to deliver at their own premises or yours and all tutors are employed directly by NEET Futures CIC to preserve the quality of their training programmes.

Fast-growing Birkenhead-based training provider, NEET Futures, was founded only two years ago but has gained an enviable reputation for the quality of the educational courses which it provides to unemployed people in the Wirral area.

So much so that it has recently been awarded the prestigious ISO:9001 accreditation.

Following a poll released by Social Enterprise magazine, and included in last week's SEN Newsletter (16th August), to find out which social enterprise support organisation provides the best value, the results have been unveiled amidst controversy...

via: socialenterpriselive.com

The School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) has topped the controversial Social Enterprise magazine poll to find out which organisation our readers think provides the best value for money to government.

A fund that awards grants to social entrepreneurs will increase the pot it makes available by £1 million to £6 million over the next two years.

The Arthur Guinness Fund, which was set up in 2009 in memory of the founder of the Guinness brewery business, has awarded funding to community projects and social enterprises in the UK, Ireland and other countries over the past year.

Brought to you over two days (Monday 15th and Tuesday 16th November 2010), Good Deals, the UK Social Investment Conference, is both a National Investment Week event and part of Global Entrepreneurship Week.

Unique in bringing together all elements of the social investment marketplace, the event is delivered by Social Enterprise magazine in partnership with NESTA, the Royal Bank of Scotland, CCLA, Triodos Bank, UKSIF and Investing for Good- with communications support from Society Media and video footage from our partners at Be Inspired Films.

This is Green Liverpool's launch event called 'Down at the Bottom of the Garden' is the first event of its kind launching on Saturday 21st August at The Bluecoat and Church Alley from 11am until 5pm.

Organised by a team of passionate volunteers, it's set to bring the streets alive with delights for all the family with music, art, drama, dance, crafts, food, drink and weird and wonderful acts from across Merseyside, whilst raising awareness of what's green and going on in the city of Liverpool.

Further to NEET Futures CIC gaining ISO 9001, MATRIX and OHSAS 18001 this past year, they have received confirmation of a Grade A Audit from their ECDL/ITQ Awarding Body: BCS.

NEET Futures have been operating for just over a year now, offering unemployed people ITQ Level 1 & 2 qualifications from their Hamilton Street Offices in Birkenhead, Wirral. 

North West Social Enterprise leaders can apply for a 'one-off' 100% bursary worth up to £10,000 to join the prestigious leadership LEAD programme delivered in Manchester.

Prof. Lynn Martin at Manchester Metropolitan University announced the bursary awards today to support up to three social enterprises that employ between 5-50 staff.

Register for a bursary application here: http://www.formstack.com/forms/?984352-juj24Jfqf0

UnLtd's Millennium Awards provide practical and financial support to social entrepreneurs in the UK; people with vision, passion, drive and commitment, who want to change the world for the better.

UnLtd Engage is supported by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and is looking for 30 entrepreneurial individuals with a passion and an idea which will bring about a positive change in attitudes and approaches to getting older.

UnLtd Engage is for individuals with an idea for a project which will:

Social Enterprise magazine has launched a poll inviting readers to vote to find out 'which social enterprise support organisation you think is value for money'. The results of the poll are to be passed to Nick Hurd MP, Minister for Civil Society, to help inform future cuts.

Via Chrisanthi Giotis, socialenterpriselive.com

Social Enterprise magazine is today launching an online poll to find out which social enterprise support organisation you think is value for money for the Office for Civil Society (OCS).

If you're aged 16-30 and have been running your own business for more than 3 months but less than 18 months, this annual competition could see you walk away with a £10,000 cash injection plus support from top PR agency Blue Rubicon at our Shell LiveWIRE LIVE! award final taking place in London on 13th October 2010.

So, if you think you've got what it takes to be our Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2010, simply follow this link.

Having spoken to, and met with a great many social enterprises and civil society organisations, a common thread emerged that a large number of organisations were daunted by the complexity of delivering a complete Capital Project.

ADP Projects CIC and our associates now have the specialist skills and experience to deliver either specific areas of a project or together to deliver a 'One Stop Shop' complete service.

If you would like to talk to ADP, please call Alex Macpherson on 0116 25 33 446.

Comtechsa is a third sector organisation, which has been working across Merseyside providing a wide range of architectural services for voluntary and community organisations for over 30 years.

They have now released a tender for the provision of a comprehensive financial service for accounts and payroll.

Click here to view the tender specification.

The deadline for all expressions of interest is Monday 23rd August 2010 5.00pm.

A free contemporary community production of Shakespeare's play of feuding families and star crossed young lovers is taking place at Croxteth Fire Station from 26th - 28th August.

Liverpool City Council have cut their Community Grants programme, the cities main voluntary sector funding programme, from three years to one year.

via Kaye Wiggins, thirdsector.co.uk

Liverpool City Council's main voluntary sector funding programme will reduce the duration of all of its grants from three years to one year from next April.

The Community Grants programme is currently worth £4m a year. The funding is due to expire in April 2011 and will be replaced with a one-year fund worth £3.7m.

The Office for Civil Society is set to cut the number of strategic partners it works with following a significant reduction in funding, with the changes set to take place from March 2011.

via Gareth Jones, civilsociety.co.uk

The Office for Civil Society has revealed it is to cut its number of strategic partners from 42 to a maximum of 15 and reduce their funding by nearly 40 per cent.