Each week after sending Have I Got Social Enterprise News For You my colleague Antonia replies giving me a score out of ten. I’m not really sure why, it’s just a tradition that we seem to have fallen into. She definitely has a future as some sort of critic though, or perhaps a school teacher. It also lends a certain frisson of excitement to a Friday morning, which is good.
This week Antonia, I’m sorry. It’s not a vintage edition. I’ve had one of those weeks where not much as happened. It’s not been a bad week, just a steady week. So go easy…
At the end of last year more than 300 of you very kindly filled in our Social Entrepreneurs Training Survey and Pioneers Post have written an article about the results. The number on training topic for social entrepreneurs? You’ll have to read the article to find out. One change that we are going to be implementing as a result of the survey is offering lunch on our workshops in London, so if you’re a social enterprise caterer and can cut us a deal please get in touch.
Career Volunteer have published a report examining the Charity Sector in 2016. It’s pretty comprehensive, covering fundraising, governance and leadership, corporate charity partnerships and volunteering.
Artisan patisserie Greggs are offering grants of between £2,500 and £10,000 to small, locally led community organisations. It’s funded by the 5p levy on plastic bags, which does raise one question: just how many sausage rolls are people buying in one go to need a plastic bag?
Have you ever wanted to stay in an arts-led social enterprise hotel in London? If so, you won’t have to wait too long until you can. Opening later in 2016 is Green Rooms, in Wood Green. It looks like a cool concept.
Our Replication and Social Franchising course begins at the end of February and it’s set to be a cracker – so far 15 organisations have signed up to attend. To whet your appetite, Social Innovation Canada have put together an excellent guide to social franchising.
Looking for some reading matter over lunchtime? SSE student Christine Farrell has just launched 1 World News, which is the first free newspaper for kids. You can download a copy here (it’s really good) and find our more about the organisation here.
The 2016 Stephen Lloyd Awards open for nominations on Monday. Applications are open to ‘anyone or any organisation that has an innovative idea that seeks to address a problem systemically’. Funding and support are available to shortlisted candidates and award winners.
SEUK’s Nick Temple has (possibly) been locked in a dark room with a calculator and an Excel spreadsheet to produce ‘Prospecting the future‘, a detailed analysis of social enterprise and finance data from 2011-2015. It’s perhaps the first report ever to feature an ‘interesting methodology section’.
Over New Year our comms manager Leonie joined Jagriti Yatra, a fifteen day journey around India on a train with 450 entrepreneurs. Certainly beats staying in and watching Jools Holland. You can read about her adventure here.
Finally, applications for this year’s Lloyds Bank Social Entrepreneurs Programme open on Monday. On offer is a full programme of learning support and a grant of £4,000 for start up organisations, or £15,000 to scale up organisations. Revisit this link on Monday morning.
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What’s on at SSE:
- Crowdfunding, SSE Midlands, 10th February
- Action Learning Facilitator Training, SSE North East, starts 11th February
- Measuring Social Impact, SSE London, 11th-12th February (sold out)
- Leadership Development, SSE London, starts 17th February (sold out)
- Replication and Social Franchising, SSE London, starts 25th February
- Sources of Funding for Charities and Social Enterprises, SSE London, 11th March
- YSC Sustainable Leadership, SSE Cornwall, 11th March + 22nd April
- Working with Corporates, SSE London, 23rd March
