This could be the last ever Have I Got Social Enterprise News For You. No, I’ve not been fired (yet) but I am about to go on my first ever holiday with my in-laws and god knows if I’ll make it back from that unscathed. If you don’t hear from me within two weeks then send help, I could well be involved in a major diplomatic incident. Ringing around my head are the words my mum used to shout after me whenever I used to go round to a friend’s house after school: “Just make sure you offer to clear up”.
Enjoy your weekend!
Unless you’ve been trapped on that space craft which has been taking pictures of Pluto you’ll have seen that this week Kids Company closed down. You can’t move for an opinion on the subject (this piece on what went wrong by Craig Dearden Phillips is one of the best) but it has revealed varying degrees of public opinion towards the charity sector. NFP Synergy have put together an interesting blog which looks at public perception of what make an ideal charity. On similar lines, the Guardian take a look at the role that trustees need to play.
Whenever charities make the news it doesn’t take long for the focus to move onto pay levels within the sector, particularly at senior levels. It’s not just the charity sector which struggles with salaries though, as this article from the New York Times demonstrates. (In the interest of transparency: I do actually get paid to write this nonsense every week).
Joel Gibbard, a current student on our Bristol programme, is featured on the Guardian’s website: A bionic hand in five days: how tech innovation is changing lives.
Unltd have put together a series of excellent ‘essential legal help guides for social entrepreneurs‘. (If you read the legal structures one and you’re still baffled come along to our Introduction to Legal Structures workshop in September).
SSE Fellow Caroline Hearst is running autism awareness training sessions at SSE London on Saturday 12th September and Saturday 17th October. Details are available here and SSE Fellows can email [email protected] for a reduced price of £40 for one session or £75 for both.
Business in the Community’s arc programme is recruiting social enterprises that want to grow and create jobs in East and West London. It’s a free programme of support and includes access to business expertise, subsidised training and social impact consultancy and profiling opportunities to corporates. Register interest here.
SSE Fellow Madeline Alterman’s organisation is hosting the inauguaral Secret Artbox Postcard Sales from August 21st at FOLD, on New Cavendish St London.It’s a mixed exhibition, with around 100 established artists exhibiting alongside artists with learning disabilities. Your opportunity to buy an original piece of art an an affordable price! All the details here.
“The real competitive advantage of social enterprise, compared to traditional charities isn’t revenue generation—it’s the ability to focus on fewer things”. A good piece by Dave Algoso on the Stanford Social Innovation Review. (Today I’m mainly focused on the fact that it’s Friday and I’m going on holiday tomorrow).
If you are ever in Edinburgh then make sure that you head to Southside Social, Edinburgh’s first social enterprise pub. I’ve yet to find out if hangovers from a social enterprise are any better than hangovers from any other enterprise. Surely they are?
What’s on at SSE?
- An Introduction to Legal Structures, SSE London, 10th September
- Working with Corporates, SSE London, 11th September (7 places left)
- Measuring Social Impact, SSE London, 17th-18th September (5 places left)
- YSC Sustainable Leadership, SSE Cornwall, starts 18th September
- Sources of Funding, SSE Cornwall, 25th September
