A missive from the Treasury: Have I Got Social Enterprise News For You

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SSE budget briefcase

In the unlikely event that you missed it, there was a budget this week. I’m still reeling from the news that the tonic in a gin and tonic will qualify for the sugar tax, which has displeased me so much that I have decided to draft my own budget. It makes no mention of things like inflation, fiscal targets or deficit forecasts because while I understand that those things are important they are actually quite boring and I’m not always sure what they actually mean.

Enjoy the news…

@davemcglashan

This budget is about building things up, not tearing them down, so I’m delighted to announce an new programme of house building: The London Community Land Trust will be providing permanently affordable homes for ordinary Londoners to ensure they can stay where they belong. The programme will also provide an investment opportunity for hard working families: £100 will secure a share in the scheme with an expected 5% annual return.

Technology forms a cornerstone of our economy and improving the digital skills of our voluntary sector will be a key part of this. With this in mind, this autumn we will be delivering ‘Third Sector Digital Leaders‘, a new four day course giving participants the confidence and skills to engage with digital communications – an area that many staff feel under pressure to tackle but lack the knowledge to do so. There is a free taster session on 5th May.

This budget aims to improve the employment opportunities for young people. As such, it gives me great pleasure to inform you that University College London will be funding 100 internship places for students over this summer. Charities and social enterprises can find out more here.

Working in conjunction with the private sector, we seek to champion the great work carried out by the UK’s thriving social enterprise sector. Applications are therefore invited to the ‘Social Enterprise of the Year Award’, part of PWC’s Private Business Awards 2016.

Coffee plays a vital role maintaining the productivity of the nation, so it is essential that we provide an ecosystem which sustains this indispensable service. SSE Fellow Cemal Ezel (whose organisation Change Please featured on this week’s Famous Rich and Homeless) is trying to locate an industrial or warehouse space in London that he can roast coffee in. Please contact [email protected] if you can help.

Not only are we a nation of shopkeepers, we are a nation of farmers and market stall traders. SSE Bristol Fellow Lynne Davis is a shining beacon in this sector: her organisation Dean Forest Food Hub is a finalist for the BBC Food and Farming Awards Best Market category. We wish her good luck.  Further food accomplishment for SSE Fellow Caroline Morgan and her organisation Local Food Links, recently featured on the Community Channel.

Budget give away number one: The Lloyds Bank and Bank of Scotland Social Entrepreneurs Programme. A grant of £4k – £15k and a year long programme to help you start up or scale up your organisation. Applications close on Monday 21st at 1pm so get cracking.

Budget give away number two: Class PR have 10 free places on their one-week PR bootcamp for startups and small businesses, starting May 9th. All expenses covered!

A budget should celebrate success. Success like that attained by SSE Fellows Emma Wilson of Artistic Spectrum and Harriet Laurie of the The Horse Course, both winners in the National Lottery People’s Project. Both organisations receive nearly £50,000 of funding as a prize.

Finally, international relations remains an important area of focus for us and so we hope that a number of you can take up the Digital Nomad Experience taking place in Hyderabad, India, in April and May. The programme is run by Social Starters.

What’s on at SSE

 

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