January, 2011 News

Esmee Fairbairn Foundation aim to improve the quality of life throughout the UK. They do this by funding the charitable activities of organisations that have the ideas and ability to achieve change for the better. They take pride in supporting work that might otherwise be considered difficult to fund.

Their primary interests are in the UK's cultural life, education, the natural environment and enabling people who are disadvantaged to participate more fully in society.

They now channel their funding through two routes:

Women in Liverpool and Knowsley who start up their own businesses are to be given an extra cash boost thanks to The Women's Organisation.

Any woman living in either of these areas will receive a £200 start-up grant when they set up in business. And, the money can be used towards any start-up costs from marketing through to business stationary- so it's bound to be extremely useful to anyone newly self-employed.

The Vauxhall Neighbourhood Council, one of Liverpool's leading social enterprises, will soon launch a brand new Restaurant Canal Boat to operate on the Leeds Liverpool Canal through the new Canal Link. This will be the first floating restaurant in Liverpool!

PricewaterhouseCoopers have launched a bid for the government's new Work Programme, based on collaborative work with social entreprise partners including the Social Enterprise Coalition, Tomorrow's People and others...

via Chrisanthi Giotis, socialenterpriselive.com

Financial services powerhouse PricewaterhouseCoopers has launched a bid to dramatically improve welfare to work provision by working with social enterprises.

Urban Quay is currently delivering training accredited by BTEC Edexcel. All of the offered modules can be done as individual units. Learning can also be done on a modular basis whereby participants can be accredited at Award, Certificate or Diploma level.

Click here to view the available modules.

Urban Quay are also able to deliver non-accredited training covering the same material, which has the benefit of significantly lower costs where accreditation is not required.

Urban Quay are providing FREE of charge Apprenticeship qualifications, available for those wanting to increase their skills and knowledge. We have eight qualifications available, each come at Level 2 Apprenticeship and Level 3 Advanced Apprenticeship.

Qualfications to choose from include:

Urban Quay currently have two training rooms available for hire to other organisations at excellent prices. A large room, based on the ground floor, can comfortably hold 10-70 delegates. A second room, on the first floor, has a capacity of 10-40 delegates.

Both rooms include:

The Wellbeing Project has received some funding from Liverpool CVS 'Merseyside Ahead Innovation Outreach and Engagement Fund' to run our award winning 'Ignite Your Life' resilience training events across Merseyside, St Helens and Halton.

The events are targeting individuals that are affected by this economic down-turn. The two hour event has three elements:

The Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations (ACEVO) has launched a new business tool, Capacity Manager, to help third sector bodies manage their spending on overheads more efficiently.

The online tool can be used to examine all the main types of overhead costs and can help judge the effectiveness of spending in different areas of business. It can assist managers benchmark their spending against similar businesses, as well as make a case to funding and commissioning bodies to support investment.

Pitman Training in Liverpool are now into their second year of offering high quality, flexible self-paced learning and tutor-lead seminars to individuals and businesses throughout Merseyside and Cheshire.

We have already built up an extensive range of students, businesses and local organisations, and these include many projects with voluntary and social enterprises.

The Wellbeing Project CIC are hosting a free event for residents of Widnes and Runcorn designed to help you stay strong during difficult times.

What will I Learn?

• How to use Humour and Laughter as a tool to stay strong
• The five ways to wellbeing
• How to be resilient and learn practical things to help yourself and others in difficult times
• How to use creativity to enhance Wellbeing

When and Where?

The Big Lottery Fund and Knowsley CVS will be in Kirkby Library on Monday 21st February from 10am to 2pm to answer any questions you have, or discuss any funding applications you are planning to submit to any of the Big Lottery Funding Streams.

For further information please contact Jannine on 0151 489 1222 or e-mail: jannine.antigha@knowsleycvs.org

Date & Time:

Monday 21st February 2011 10am-2pm

Venue:

Kirkby Library, Newtown Gardens, Kirkby, L32 8RR

The Social Enterprise Mark Company is the leading authority that certifies social enterprises. More than 350 social enterprises across the UK, currently have the Mark. 

The Social Enterprise Mark Company is moving to its next stage of development since launching in February 2010 and requires the expertise and skills of a full-time Sales Executive to develop and deliver the sales plan in accordance with the targets set out in the business plan, as well as working closely with the staff team.

Stella Maris Social Enterprise is now offering an executive coaching service to social enterprises with the prime focus on maximising efficiency and leadership development ('More for Less'). Coaching has been identified as being integral to maximising organisational performance especially in times of austerity.

All coaches are members of appropriate professional bodies including ILM, British Psychological Society and the Institute for Learning.

Introductory offer of £140 for 6 two hour sessions.

Social Finance invites commissioners, social service providers and investors to three conferences in Glasgow, Birmingham and London in March 2011. They would like to work with you to build the marketplace for Social Impact Bonds.

Speakers will include leading social investors, government representatives and voluntary sector practitioners.

The conferences will address:

The Federation of Small Businesses is kicking off its 2011 National Conference in Liverpool with an afternoon of networking, and is encouraging non-FSB members to get involved.

The conference, which runs from March 17th-19th at the BT Convention Centre at the Kings Dock in Liverpool, will see hundreds of small business owners from all over the UK attending, with a superb programme of debates, seminars, and speeches from senior political figures being announced shortly.

The transfer of NHS pensions to new provider social enterprises has been a long-running issue for those seeking to create spin-off social enterprises from the NHS. The successful transfer of pensions into a new social enterprise in North East Essex however, 'will not set a precedent'.

via Gemma Hampson, socialenterpriselive.com

The transfer of pensions for NHS staff in north east Essex moving into a new social enterprise will not set a precedent, the Department of Health has said.

Charitable foundations are being called upon by Goverment to support social enterprises with social investment in order to ease the transition to a policy of 'payment by results'.

via Chrisanthi Giotis, socialenterpriselive.com

The government's policy of payment by results will mean a greater need for social investment- and Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude has called on charitable foundations to fill the void.

'The Right to Run' is a one day event designed to provide practical support to public sector employees looking to create social enterprises and mutuals through spinning out existing services.

The Government has committed to giving public service employees the right to take over and run their services as social enterprise and mutual spin-outs.

The Social Enterprise Coalition has recently published a new guide that provides information and advice on how to win government, public sector and other business through procurement. It is aimed primarily at BAME social enterprises but contains information relevant to any social enterprise.

To download a copy of the publication visit the BAME pages of the SEC website.

As public sector funding cuts begin to bite, it is vital that their impact on the voluntary sector and the people it works with is understood. Voluntary Sector Cuts is a new collaborative project which maps intelligence about voluntary groups experiencing reductions in public sector funding.

The fastest growing social businesses in the UK are taking the brave step of revealing just how much profit they are making in this year's £25,000 RBS SE100 Index.

The index now in its second year, charts the fortunes of both the fastest growing social enterprises and those doing the most to prove their social impact. Last year more than 350 enterprises signed up.

Stake your claim in the RBS SE100 Index and get a share of £25k!

Social enterprise might sound good but how do we prove it really has the goods?

The RBS SE100 Index is gathering the facts and figures about social businesses, charting both growth and social impact to put stats behind great stories of social businesses delivering positive economic change across the UK.

South Sefton Development Trust, in partnership with Bootstrap Enterprises, is now offering a straightforward route to gaining the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) Certificate and Diploma in Business Support Level 5 and 6.

The qualifications are recognised by SFEDI (the standard-setting body for business support), accredited by CMI and widely regarded as the best practice route to gaining a nationally recognised lifetime qualification in business advice.

Low Carbon Liverpool invites you to the launch of its report, 'Building the Low Carbon Economy on Merseyside: Future proofing the city for future climate and fuel price uncertainty' which will be taking place on Thursday 17th February 2011 from 9am-1pm at Blackburne House, Blackburne Place, Liverpool, L8 7PE.

The report is the result of an ESRC-funded Knowledge Exchange Partnership between the University of Liverpool, Liverpool Vision, Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, and Groundwork Merseyside. It examines: