Well then, we have a new Prime Minister. In separate news, yesterday was hot enough in London to think that the entire city had been relocated to the gates of hell. These incidents are of course entirely unrelated and there is no direct correlation between the two. We also have an entirely new Cabinet. I once bought a new cabinet in Ikea, only to get home and discover that most of the screws were missing. Again, no relation between these two tidbits. Honestly.

But while governments and politicians come and go (and then often come back and go again), charity and social enterprise news carries on regardless. Here’s everything going on this week…

@davemcglashan

Fight for your right to…influence policy

With our political class seemingly staging a live action reworking of Lord of the Flies, a well timed article arguing that ‘nonprofits that engage in political activity benefit themselves, those they serve, and the political system as a whole’. It’s based on the US system, but most of it holds true this side of the Atlantic.

Read ‘Getting Political Is Good for Everyone’ here

Bucket list

I’ll tell you what I want what I really really want…actually I won’t, but I can tell you what a whole host of charities want from Boris Johnson. More money and fewer bridges, I imagine.

Find out more here

The revolution starts here

After a hard morning of toil there’s nothing that the workers at SSE enjoy more than their lunchtime bowl of gruel. Sometimes, we’re even allowed outside for a few moments, which is extra nice.

But how the other half live. It was revealed this week that our managing director Nicola dines on salmon salads. Not just your regular salmon salad either – a gourmet salmon salad. Jeepers. I don’t even know what a gourmet salmon is, but I’m guessing it contains gold. Where did I find this information out? In a new ‘Ladies who Lunch’ article by Pioneers Post.

Which you can read here

For the many, not the few

Approximately 90% of Have I Got Social Enterprise News For You readers are yet to complete our 2019 Training Survey. Come on, it’s Friday – take the survey and you’ll be ten minutes closer to home time.

Take the survey here

Ho ho ho

All this hot weather has made me think of one thing this week: Christmas. Only 151 days to go. It’s also on the mind of law firm Orrick, who are currently organising their first Shop For Good Christmas Market, taking place on 12th November at their offices in the City of London. They have a few stalls available – if you are interested in taking part, email Amy Grunske – [email protected] – and she can give you all the info that you need.

If you build it, they will come

Co-op Foundation are offering interest free loans of up to £50,000 ‘towards viable business ideas that will benefit the whole community – particularly those facing greater challenges’. In some cases, they will offer a grant alongside the secured loan. Those of you who need more details, this explains how a secured loan works. If you own or manage a building or outdoor space that’s used for a wide range of community activities it looks well worth checking it out.

Details here

Question time

Right then quiz fans – do you know who founded the UK’s first door to door parcel delivery service? Turns out it was a chap called William Sutton. He also lends his name to the William Sutton Prize, which recognises ‘ground breaking new ideas which will make a positive impact on a community’. There are two prizes of £20,000 available, one for Social Innovation and one for Placemaking and Affordable Housing Design. Entries need to be made by 12 noon on Wednesday 31st July 2019.

Apply here

Crack the code

10 CLS

20 PRINT “Do you know understand the role that IT can play in achieving strategic objectives?”

30 PRINT “Can you translate business requirements into IT solutions?”

40 PRINT “Then you might like to apply to the Head of Information Systems role that we are currently recruiting at SSE London. It’s a chunky role, paying £51,685 -£57,428 (subject to skills and experience). Deadline to apply is 5th August at midday.

50 PRINT “You can find out more here”

60 END

Magic money tree

A bumper list of 150 UK small business grants that you can apply to – they aren’t all suitable for charities / social enterprises and a lot of them are regional but in a list this long there should be something of interest…

See the list here

Are you experienced?

SSE North West are looking for passionate, socially minded and dedicated individuals to join their Advisory Board. These voluntary, unpaid positions will play an integral role in ensuring that SSE North West continues to engage and empower Social Leaders from across the North of England. It’s a great opportunity to get involved with our school in Liverpool – make sure to pop them a C.V by 23rd August.

Find out more here

Helping hand

Also looking for a volunteer is SSE Fellow Greg Sanderson, co-founder of Smart School Councils, a a teacher-led charity based in London that aims to support every child UK to participate and lead change on the things that matter to them. Greg is looking for an experienced fundraiser to mentor him and help build organisational capacity to raise funds. If you can spare 3-4 hours a month, Greg would love to hear from you.

Details here

Escape to victory

Are you a women doing good in the world? Are you hungry for some time out, so you can get clear on your priorities, and move forward with focus and intention? Would you like to reconnect with your tribe, feel supported, and be part of a group of like-minded women? Or maybe you’ve suffered with burnout, and need some space to nourish yourself and to set some boundaries that serve you?

Well, The Escape learning journey to help you grow your sense of self, your confidence, and your possibilities. There are now just 3 spaces left for their September retreat in Kent.

You can find out more here

Phone home

If a work mobile phone could be useful to you, social enterprise SwitchAid has partnered up with Carphone Warehouse to offer registered charities and not for profits 100x free mobile phones to give away with Sim Only contracts.

There is no limit to the number of phones you can claim and you can pick & choose which sim only contracts are right for your needs.

Register your interest to claim yours on 31st July 2019.

Let me amaze you. You’re reading this on Friday, but it was actually written on Wednesday. I’m currently on the beach / in a soft play centre / eating an ice cream while in sunny / rainy / cloudy Poole.

Such a high level of forward planning carries a degree of peril. If, like me, you use the 1996 smash hit film Independence Day as your reference point for patek philippe replica strategic thinking then you’ll know just how quickly unforeseeable events can disrupt your day to day activity. For those who haven’t seen the film, the timeline goes something like this:

• July 2nd: alien spacecraft spotted orbiting Earth
• July 3rd: US president attacked and captured by an alien. Manages to escape and launch a nuclear strike against the alien mothership
• July 4th: alien invasion repelled

I’m hoping that nothing similar has happened in the intervening period between me writing and you reading this, or the impact of this newsletter is going to be somewhat diminished and feel rather out of date. Although the current president of the USA being captured by aliens does hold a certain appeal…

Enjoy the news

@davemcglashan

Dreams can come true

I’ve been thinking recently that I’d really like to go to a half day seminar for charities and social enterprises on the state of the sector and funding opportunities with practical insight and guidance from experts and leaders. And you know what? The good people at Charity Bank must be mind readers, because they’ve just scheduled Road to Growth, a series of events taking place around the country this autumn meeting just my needs.

You can find out more here

Regions to be cheerful

South West England: pat yourselves on the back. South East England: give yourself a round of applause. Scotland: not bad, but I think you can do better. East Midlands and North East England – you really need to pull your fingers out.

Yep, like a broken record I’m banging on about the 2019 School for Social Entrepreneurs Training Survey again. And to add an extra incentive I’m making it a matter of regional pride – fill the survey in and help your region get to the top the very exciting “number of responses from each area league table” which I may publish in the future if I’m really desperate for content.

Fill the survey in here

In the tea leaves

I’m not a futurologist but I can confidently predict that the most in-demand training topic from the forementioned survey will be social impact measurement. It always is. So it’s a good thing we’re running a Measuring Social Impact course in London on 13th + 14th August – at the moment we’ve got seven places available.

Book a spot here

Money matters

If you’ve got some spare change (or just lots of money that you don’t want) and fancy supporting an SSE Fellow then there are a couple of crowdfunding campaigns looking for support:

Paul Ryan is raising money for the Cafe Art MyLondon calendar, a social enterprise initiative for London homelessness art groups and individuals who have been affected by homelessness. It’s an excellent cause – you can buy a beautiful wall calendar or, new for this year, a desktop version. Get ahead with your Christmas gift giving here.

Meanwhile, Cathie Sprague is raising funds for a portable trapeze workshop rig, enabling her to deliver workshops at indoor and outdoor spaces. To date, Cathie has had some amazing impact with young girls in the Teeside region including building the confidence of someone who is now a potential future Paralympian. Back the campaign here.

Get yourself connected

Charities and social enterprises are invited to apply to the Tech To Connect Challenge, a £1 million prize fund that will ‘draw out and help develop ideas enabling civil society to combat social isolation using technology. Ten finalists will receive a £25,000 grant to develop ideas into working prototypes, two runners up will receive and additional £75,000 and the winning idea will win £100,000.

You need to apply by 7th August

Recipe for success

It’s difficult to do a food based bit without using that headline. Organisations using food to create social and environmental change may be interested in the forthcoming launch of the UK Social Gastronomy Hub, part of a wider network of 11 hubs across the world. The UK hub is being created by The Clink charity. There is no cost to signing up, and the aim is that the Hub will promote the work that you do in the UK, while supporting fellow members and sharing best practice globally.

You can find out more about the movement here. If you’d like to sign up, or if you’d like further information, contact Geoff Ranson – [email protected] – and he can get give you all the info you need.

Caution: this section contains an appalling joke

– Which is the coldest country in South America?
– I don’t know, but I bet it’s Chile

I did warn you. Still, you can use the joke to break the ice and gain new friends should you be successful in winning the ‘impact entrepreneur of the year’ award in The GSG Impact Honors. The award is for ‘leaders with catalytic impact on lives or planet through profit with purpose companies (social enterprises), non-government organizations or non-profit social service providers with earned-income model’.

The awards will take place in Santiago, Chile on 18th + 19th November, and the winner will be flown out to Chile to pick up the prize.

Apply by 31st July

For our younger readers

This newsletter has faced recent criticism online that its cultural references can be somewhat dated. This newsletter does not engage with such violent online trolling. Still, as a demonstration of Have I Got Social Enterprise News For You’s ability to connect with Gen Z, we bring news of EY Foundation’s Accelerate Programme.

It’s a one year programme of support for social entrepreneurs under 30 operating across London, Manchester, Leeds, Glasgow and Edinburgh. If your business’ annual turnover is over £50,000 and you have a credible plan to grow at a local, regional or national level, creating future employment opportunities, you should apply by 15th August.

Which you can do here

Does four equal five?

Finally, an interesting experiment from our friends at Happy: for the month of August they are switching to a four day week. Sounds like an excellent idea. 

Read why they are doing it here

Slightly less glitz, glamour and razzmatazz in this week’s edition than usual – last week’s was too long and I also literally walked out of the office at 10.24pm last night so I’m a little tired and throwing this all together on Friday morning. Friday’s, of course, are all about doing as much as possible as quickly as possible so you can start focusing on the weekend.

So let’s get this done and start thinking about more important things…

@davemcglashan

Impact and Outcomes Matrix

I did warn you, no glitz or glamour. The Outcomes Matrix, developed by Big Society Capital, is a free interactive tool designed to help you plan and measure your outcomes. It ‘provides a useful starting point for you to consider the social impact that you are trying to deliver and how you will measure it’.

Find it here

SSE Training Survey

At least 75% of subscribers to this newsletter are yet to complete our 2019 Training Survey. Tut tut. What are you waiting for? It’s your opportunity to tell us the courses that you’d like to see us deliver over the next twelve months. According to the stats, it’s been taking 12 minutes on average to complete. Let’s say you live until 80 – if I’ve done the sums right it’s going to take up just 0.00002853881% of your time on earth to complete.

Which you can do here

Sources of Funding for Charities and Social Enterprises

Is the name of the next one day workshop we are running in London. Taking place next Thursday, ‘will leave the workshop with an understanding of the different income sources available to you, insight into what a range of funders are looking for and an action plan to develop new income streams’. Sounds good, doesn’t it?

Book a place here

Job opportunities

SSE Dartington are looking for a Programme Administrator for their Accelerating Women’s Enterprise Programme. It’s a part time (30 hours) fixed term contract until July 2021 – if you are a highly organised, creative and energetic administrator then apply here by August 9th.

Meanwhile in London, our friends at Impact Hub Kings Cross are looking for a Financial and General Administrator. If you’re organised and love numbers and improving operational processes (who doesn’t?), check out the job description and apply here.

Trustee opportunities

SSE Fellow Jem Stein is recruiting a treasurer for The Bike Project, an award winning charity that matches up refugees and asylum seekers without the means or money to travel around the city, with the thousands of abandoned or unwanted bikes in and around London and Birmingham. The treasurer will support their growth as the current treasurer’s term comes to the end. Find out more here.

SSE Fellow Victoria Ijeh is looking for a Chair for her social enterprise Iconic Steps, which develops a growth mindset in young people so they can overcome barriers and take their first steps towards a career. ‘You should have excellent leadership qualities to step into the role of Chair, developing the Board and supporting the capacity of a small team doing big things, as it moves into the next stage of development’. Find out more here.

Five tips on starting a social enterprise, from Igniting Change in Lambeth

Our new programme, Igniting Change in Lambeth, is in full swing. The six-session learning programme supports individuals to develop their ideas for social enterprises tackling issues in Lambeth, South London.

Henna, SSE Central’s communications coordinator, went along to Impact Brixton to observe the second session of Igniting Change in Lambeth.

Discover what she learnt during the evening…

Action for Happiness @ Happy Startup Summercamp

On the weekend of 13-15 September this year, 150 changemakers will gather in the beautiful Sussex countryside for the 7th annual Happy Startup Summercamp. You’ll find inspiration all around, learn things you didn’t know about business (and life) and make incredible bonds with likeminded peers from around the world. And it’s not just for startups! Anyone that wants to make a positive dent in the world, and doesn’t want to do it alone is welcome…

Mention School of Social Entrepreneurs in your  application and you’ll be fast-tracked and get a £100+vat discount on a ticket for the weekend.

Find out more here

Business networking sessions across Suffolk and Norfolk

MENTA offer fuss-free business networking through our Coffee Means Business events, where all business sectors are welcome. Sponsored by Ensors, the events attract a wide demographic of business people. There is no need to book in advance – simply choose your networking location, date and time and pay £5pp on arrival.

Everything you need is here

DadFest 2019

Here’s a date for the diary. Join DadFest 2019 at Beeson, South Devon on September 13th – 15th – the only festival just for dad’s/male carers and their children. DadFest is also home to the Official World Dad Dancing Championships, featured on BBC The One Show in January 2018, as well as 5Live, Channel 5, BBC Spotlight and many other media outlets. The Dangerous Dad’s Network CIC is run by SSE Fellow Ian Blackwell and a social enterprise that supports each of the local dads groups around the country.

You can book tickets here

Cultivating Black Women for Social Change

Friend of SSE Palma Black is forming a socially conscious business which will support African Caribbean and Asian women who are trying to do something good in their communities, but are facing everyday challenges such as parenting, holding down jobs/unemployment, relationship breakdowns, mental health and dealing with grief.

To help get things going, Palma is conducting some research: she is seeking to engage with women who have made a success in establishing community projects, charities and social enterprises. She would like to hear about the personal and professional challenges that have had a negative impact on them and how they overcame them; what they did, who supported them and what made the difference.

Palma would like to conduct in-depth interviews with about 20 women, but will invite others to complete an online survey. It sounds really interesting – if you’d like to take part please email Palma: [email protected]

“How do you think of what to write in your newsletter each week?” is a question I frequently get asked (at least once a year). I’d love there to be some sophisticated answer but it essentially comes down to this:

1. Has anything interesting and amusing happened in the office this week?
2. Has anything interesting and amusing happened in the world this week?
3. If the answer to 1 and 2 = no, then fall back onto a bit of nostalgia. Everyone loves nostalgia (the positive type, not the Brexity type).

You can see where we going with this. So without further ado, let’s get stuck into this week’s theme: 80s kids TV shows. Always a popular topic of conversation, and I’ve even included a link to the theme tune for each so you can get stuck down a Youtube rabbit hole for the rest of the day. Apologies in advance, I got a bit carried away so it’s quite long. Next week’s will focus on brevity…

@davemcglashan

Why don’t you?

(Theme)

The theme tune lyrics of Why Don’t You were ‘why don’t you just switch off your television set and go out and do something less boring instead?’. This was pretty sage advice; for the most part, TV was terrible back then. Only four channels and during the summer holidays one of them would be devoted pretty much entirely to cricket. I grew to love the sport through indoctrination; I’m pretty sure I spent more time growing up in the company of Richie Benaud than I did my own father.

Anyway, if you happen to find yourself a little bored later today (you will do, probably around 4.30pm) then why don’t you do something less boring instead and complete our 2019 training survey. It’s your opportunity to tell us about the training topics that you’d like to see us cover in the future. You could even win a £50 John Lewis voucher for taking part. Ooooooooooooooooh.

Complete the survey here

(If you want to be really helpful- once you’ve finished the survey click this link and it will post the survey to Twitter. We want as many replies as possible, so thank you!)

Jimbo and the Jet-set

(Theme)

According to Wikipedia, the premise of Jimbo and the Jet-set was ‘that Jimbo was originally intended to be a Jumbo Jet, but his designer could not tell the difference between inches and centimetres, resulting in his diminutive size’. The first episode was broadcast in 1985, whereas the metric system was adopted in 1965 so you’d really hope that a plane designer would have got his or her head around it by then.

Fortunately such design flaws don’t apply to the fleet of Virgin Atlantic, which is good news for SSE Fellow Cemal Ezel and his social enterprise Change Please. Change Please provide education programmes and barista training for homeless people and will now be providing the coffee on all Virgin Atlantic flights, adding to their existing relationship with Virgin Trains.

Read more here

Press Gang

(Theme)

A TV show that was focused around a school newspaper, which very much makes it of its time. Kids probably just do everything on Tiktok (I know the name, I don’t know what it does) and Snapchat these days. You can read the full story on Tiktok and the richest people on it here.

Fortunately, SSE still has a strong focus on quality media production (this newsletter the exception, obviously) and my colleagues have been busy away writing this week. First our head of comms Sophie has been chatting to some of the participants on our Enterprise Learning programme to unearth three ideas for how homelessness charities can increase income.

Not to be outdone, comms assistant Henna has a Glastonbury inspired post looking at five music and performing-arts projects that are changing lives. All five of whom are mercifully free of a Chris Martin guest appearance.

Postman Pat

(Theme)

They are still showing this now, my three year old occasionally watches it. I think it’s actually a commentary on the strength of the Communication Workers Union, because there is no way that in most workplaces someone can be as incompetent as Pat would not get at least a verbal warning. Should Pat get his act together, he may realise that perhaps his future lies elsewhere:

• He could apply to be SSE’s new Director of Programmes and Learning. We’re looking for someone motivated by the impact social entrepreneurs, community businesses and social sector leaders can have in tackling society’s biggest problems, and energised by the role that learning and support can play in helping bring about transformational social change. You can find out more here.

• Or, he could become either a Freelance Chef or a Progression and Engagement Officer at social enterprise Fat Macy’s, who work with young Londoners living in temporary accommodation and train them as chefs. Details of both jobs are available here.

• Perhaps a bit of volunteering would be good for Pat. SSE Fellow Amani Eke is looking for trustees for Project Yogi, a not-for-profit organisation that creates yoga, mindfulness and social emotional well-being based programmes, classes and workshops. They are based in London, find out more here.

•  Or maybe Pat would prefer to support Open Briefing’s work in advancing the physical, digital and psychological security and resilience of at-risk human rights defenders and humanitarians. It’s a bit of a step up from doing the rounds in Greendale but you never know. Open Briefing have a number of voluntary positions on their advisory board, whether you are an experienced board member or wanting to take your first step at board level. Further details here.

Blue Peter

(Theme)

Any readers have a Blue Peter badge at all? Tweet us @schsocent if you do, bonus points if you have a picture with it. It’s looks like it’s actually quite a decent thing to have, you can get into all these places for free.

Of course, one of the things that Blue Peter is most famous for is its garden. Did the garden inspire SSE Fellow Rachel Summersdale? I can only speculate, but what I do know for certain is that Rachel is looking to raise £200,000 in a community share offer for the Hulme Community Garden Centre. It’s a chance ‘to invest in a unique Mancunian urban oasis, to drastically improve its facilities and to increase its positive social impact’. It looks cool – find out more here.

Similarly green-fingered is SSE Fellow Steve Williams of the OASIS Community Centre & Gardens in Worksop, Nottinghamshire. They’ve just had a crew from BBC Gardener’s World film for a segment on the difference that community gardens make to individuals and to a community – it’s being broadcast on BBC Two tonight on BBC Two. You find out more about Oasis here.

Junior Kickstart

(Theme)

This was absolutely brilliant. Without wanting to get all “it was much better in the old days” I really can’t imagine a production meeting suggesting a show with kids whizzing around on motorbikes without proper helmets getting very far these days.

Anyhow, if you have a social venture working within the education curriculum with a focus on employability – working with young people to access, thrive and progress in their careers – then the Young Academy would like to hear from you. Their free Accelerator programme offers workshops, coaching, mentoring and more. It could be just the kickstart that you need…replica uhren deutschland

Find out more here

He Man and the Masters of the Universe

(Theme)

I struggled a bit with this one. Let me explain my thinking: there is a book called Chasing Goldman Sachs: How the Masters of the Universe Melted Wall Street Down…And Why They’ll Take Us to the Brink Again. Goldman Sachs are a bank. Banks provide financial products. Similarly, Fair4All Finance is an organisation that aims to increase access to fair, affordable and appropriate financial products and services.

And now, Fair4All Finance is inviting affordable credit providers to submit expressions of interest to participate in a pilot scale up programme during the summer of 2019.

Which you can do here

Byker Grove

(Theme)

“Alreet PJ lad, are you going the Social Enterprise Acumen Social Entrepreneurs Summer Social?”

“Where’s that Duncan man?”

“3pm – 6pm at the Old Rectory, Houghton Le Spring on Friday 19th July. It looks canny”

“Will there be scran and drink?”

“Why aye man”.

“Haddawaay PJ, I’m going then”.

“Book your ticket here then man”

Home and Away

(Theme)

You can do social innovation at home, you can do social innovation away. You can even do social innovation at the Møller Centre at the University of Cambridge; they are hosting a three day Leading Social Ventures seminar for chief executives of medium to large social enterprises who are managing and leading growth and striving for increased social impact.

The course takes place at the end of October and costs £3000+VAT.

You can find out more here.