I’m going to start with a confession. I’m feeling a teeny bit fragile this morning after a Thanksgiving dinner (American father) last night at which one, maybe two, too many thanks were given. I think I’m getting away with it so far though. Just keep the coffee coming and if you could all keep the noise down it would be hugely appreciated.
Right, let’s get on with this week’s news:
- SEUK have assembled the Buy Social Gift Guide, with some social enterprise ideas for your Christmas shopping. The perfect anecdote to all the Black Friday nonsense that’s flying around today. (Yep, I’m a little grouchy).
- Somerset County Council have established the Somerset Social Enterprise Fund, which will provide loan finance to social enterprises in the county. If you don’t know where to begin when it comes to social investment, don’t worry – I sat in on our ‘Unlocking Social Finance’ workshop last week, and put together some reflections as well as whole load of useful links.
- SSE Bristol student Joel Gibbard appeared on ITV’s Good Morning Britain: Man’s Bionic Arm Made With 3D Printer. (That really does sound like a headline from the future).
- Congratulations to all the winners at this year’s SE100 awards, which took place on Monday, and also to the winners at the Social Enterprise Awards, which took place on Wednesday.
- A good interview examining the state of the social economy with Maff Potts, who I saw speaking at this week’s Good Deals Conference. Also on the billing was Liam Black, who urged social entrepreneurs to ‘ditch the messiah complex and get some kip‘. At this point I’d bite your arm off for a nap.
- The Liverpool Echo reports that the future of Social Enterprise North West is under threat as Government demands it pays back £1.4m.
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Going global? Then you need these top tips for social enterprises looking to expand overseas.
- Some great coverage in the Portsmouth News for SSE Fellow Pravin Isram and his coffee shop Canvas Coffee Shop.
- If you’re not a fan of public speaking (is anyone?) then this could come in handy: The Ultimate Cheat Sheet for Becoming A Public Speaking Expert.
Have a good week, and good luck to all our Scale Up students graduating in London this afternoon!