Return of the Mack(glashan): Have I Got Social Enterprise News For You

Right then, what have I missed?

A huge thank you to Sophie for taking on the mantle of writing this newsletter for the last four weeks. It was much better than usual wasn’t it? I need to raise my game or I’ll be finding myself in the dole queue faster than you can say ‘be the change’. For those of you who happened to have subscribed to this newsletter over the last month I’m afraid that’s certainly the best it will get and it’s all downhill from here. Sorry about that.replika klokker

Lucky for me that it’s a good week of news so I can ease myself back into a working routine. After all this time out of the office and with a hint of sleep deprivation I can barely type, let alone think of anything interesting to say in the newsletter…

Have a super weekend

@davemcglashan

A wise man will be of few words (Proverbs 17:27)

Very true of the quiet man of SSE, our chief executive ‘Whispering’ Alastair Wilson. He’s broken his zen like silence however to pronounce that ‘we need to re-balance the conversation on sustainable social enterprise’, arguing that we should ‘celebrate the fact that grants remain part of the mix for social enterprises’. And with that he returned to his office and resumed his monastic-like silence.

Read the article here

Game set and match trading

One of the ways in which grant funding can be re-imagined is through Match Trading, a new form of funding created by SSE. Match Trading grants match every pound you increase your income from trading by in a given year. We’ve just released data from the first year of community businesses that we’ve supported in partnership with Power to Change – it shows that on average organisations increased their traded income by 92% in one year.

If you work for an established charity or social enterprise in the field of either homelessness or youth you can apply for a match trading grant of up to £10,000 as part of Enterprise Learning, an 8 day leadership programme we are running supported by the Access. Don’t be a pumpkin and make sure that you apply by 1pm on 31st October.

Rank Foundation are supporting SSE Dartington to launch a programme giving out Match Trading grants to social enterprises in Plymouth – keep your eyes on HIGSENFY for further details in the coming weeks.

If you’d like to find out more about match trading and sign up for more funding opportunities you can do so at www.matchtrading.com

Choo choo choose social

If you have a ticket booked on Virgin Trains in the near future you can at least console yourself with the news that you can now by coffee from social enterprise Change Please on board. Founded by SSE Fellow Cemal Ezel, Change Please coffee will be available in all First Class lounges, First Class carriages, retail shops and trolley services on all 77 Pendolino and Voyager trains nationwide, including all routes and all stations across the network.

Friday beers

Social enterprise brewery Brewgooder are offering 1000 packs of their Clean Water Lager on a pay what you want basis. Each donation at the RRP of £9 will provide a person with clean water access for 2.5 years. I’m not sure how many cases remain available – I ordered one earlier this week so that takes the total down to a maximum of 999.

Order a case here

An invitation with strings attached

Would you like to come to SSE’s Christmas party? Well you can, but only if you get successfully appointed to one of the two vacancies that we are currently for: a learning manager and a programme administrator, both based in London. Details are on our website – the closing date for the learning manager position is 29th October so you need to sharpen your cv quickly.

Details here

now>press>apply

We’re not the only people recruiting; SSE Fellow and all round good egg Alice Lacey has two available positions at her award winning social enterprise now>press>play. Based in Hoxton, now>press>play is one of the most exciting and ambitious social enterprises in the edtech sector. They are looking for a Business Development Manager and an Account Manager.

Get on board

A couple of social enterprises are currently looking for people to join their boards. First up, SSE Fellow Teresa Reynolds is looking for people aged 17-25 to join the Incredible Brilliant Youth Board. Incredible Brilliant Youth was set up in July 2012 to help empower and raise the confidence of young people through workshops and talks on self-esteem, beauty, body image, education and employment. You can find out more here.

In Leicester, award winning charity Pedestrian are looking for two trustees. The charity provides education and training to young people at risk and vulnerable adults. They are particularly keen to hear from people with skills / experience in the following areas: education, fundraising, treasurer / finance, legal / human resources, marketing and PR and Youth offending/ Criminal Justice Service/Police and Crime Commissioner experience. Find out more here (pdf download).

Putting the We in social tech

Deutsche Bank are launching We in Social Tech, a new London-based business growth accelerator set to support 60 ambitious women-led UK tech businesses with a social purpose over two years. There is a free launch event on November 1st at their offices in Canary Wharf or you can apply for the programme here – it doesn’t matter if you are starting out or are already established, as long as you are passionate about making a positive impact with your business. The closing date for applications is November 19th.

Girls Allowed

Also open for applications is Prime Advocates ‘Women of Impact’ programme. It’s a 12-month training, mentorship, advisory and acceleration programme and aims to support women empowering social enterprises to become sustainable and scale for greater social impact. It’s free to take part.

You can apply here

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

There is a certain irony in the word ‘microentrepreneurship’ being as long as it, a thought that occurred to me while learning that The Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards are open for business. Four prizes of £7500 are available and the awards recognise the outstanding microentrepreneurs who are creating jobs, services and prosperity in their communities. Last year SSE Fellows Mona and Shaz Shah picked up a prize for their organisation Harry Spectors.

Enter here

Money money money

Three new funding opportunities that have opened over the last few weeks:

Big Lottery Fund opened the Partnerships fund, making grants over £10,000 available for organisations which work together with a shared set of goals and values.

The Coalfields Regeneration Trust have opened the Coalfields Community Investment Programme, funding projects that deliver in the top 30% most deprived coalfield communities. The programme offers a range of practical support as well as grant funding to voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations.

The Co-op Foundation are offering offering interest-free loans of up to £50,000 for enterprising ideas to improve community spaces. If you have a community organisation and are thinking about growing its trading activities to generate more sustainable income they want to hear from you. Further details here.

Last but by no means least

Finally, if you are a subscriber to the always excellent Pioneers Post you can read all about SSE student Michael Brown and the partnership between his social enterprise Empower to Cook and pharmaceutical brand Janssen.