I’ve been ill this week and working from home so you may want to wash your hands after reading this email. Being unwell, I’ve obviously spent the week looking at the Guardian live coronavirus blog and checking the 111 website, doing that weird thing when you convince yourself that you’re in the worst situation possible and you’re probably only moments away from summoning an ambulance and going into A+E.
Fortunately, it hasn’t come to that. I did, however, learn one interesting snippet while doing my research though: ‘Covid 19’ fits perfectly into the song ‘Come on Eileen’.
You’re welcome…
And it’s live…
Applications are open for our biggest, funded programme, the Lloyds Bank and Bank of Scotland Social Entrepreneurs programme. It consists of 14+ days of learning, a business mentor, a grant and a peer-to-peer support network, run by SSE and jointly funded by the National Lottery Community Fund. There are three levels for social entrepreneurs at start up, trade up or scale up stages of growth.
Find out all you need to know here
Ask yourself this
Have you every truly considered repayable finance, and what it means to you? And I mean really considered it. As in looked into your soul, wrestling for meaning and answers. If you haven’t, the time to do so is now: the Adebowale Commission on Social Investment are looking for views from social enterprises on repayable finance.
There is a ten minute survey to take here
Aha
Youth Hostelling with Chris Eubank. Arm Wrestling with Chas and Dave. Monkey Tennis. None of these would be suitable applications for the Community Business Bright Ideas Fund (mainly because they are the ideas of a fictional television character). They also wouldn’t be eligible. However, community groups in England looking to set up and start running a community business are eligible to apply. On offer is tailored business development support, mentoring and visits and a possible small grant of up to £15,000 to fund development and start-up costs.
To Hull and Back
First references to Alan Partridge, now to Only Fools and Horses. I should probably do more to cater to the youth demographic. If you do make it to Hull and it happens to be on the 17th April, you should make your way to The Social Enterprise Fayre, hosted by DropPoint CIC. It’s taking place at Hull Minster and promises a day of inspiration and the chance to shop for products brought to you by local charities and social enterprises. Further info is available in the link below. If you’d be interested in being a vendor on the day pop an email to [email protected]
All ears
I’m going to make a bold claim and suggest that these ‘podcast’ things might just take off. Don’t ask why, it’s just a hunch. If you’d like to explore this exciting new medium then SSE student Vic Turnbull has two workshops taking place in Manchester in the coming weeks: Get Started in Podcasting on 31st March and Nail Your Podcast Interviews on 8th April.
Culture club
Let’s bring some culture to this ragtag newsletter for once. Strike a Light are looking for 16 women in the South West working in the arts to take part in a paid leadership programme that includes work placements, mentoring and training. Beginning in June, the programme is open to women over 21 who are based in Bournemouth, Christchurch, Poole, Plymouth, Isle of Wight, Portsmouth, Southampton, Dorset, Devon, Cornwall, Hampshire, Wiltshire, Somerset, Gloucestershire, BANES & Bristol.
Record breakers
Biggest animal in the world? Blue whale. Longest river? The Amazon. Deepest ocean? The Pacific. And now there is a new record breaker: the world’s biggest impact investment fund for the creative arts, Nesta’s Arts & Culture Impact Fund. Take that other impact funds for the creative arts. Arts and culture organisations can apply for loans of between £150,000 to £1 million for a period of up to 10 years. Applications are now open.
A career at Year Here?
Year Hear are looking for a new CEO (£70k – £80k). The core of the job is propelling brilliant, compassionate, ambitious entrepreneurs, with the support of the great and the good of the UK’s social impact world. Based in London, they are looking for a social impact leader with commercial experience and bags of ambition.
Food for the Soul
A few weeks old but well worth a mention – Big Issue published a great piece about SSE Fellow Meg Doherty and her social enterprise Fat Macy’s. As well as giving homeless people the experience they need to get back on their feet in the job market, Fat Macy’s centres on a housing deposit grant scheme that removes the biggest barrier for people locked out of getting a home of their own.
