MAYO, TIPPERARY & LIMERICK

WHAT IS A SOCIAL ENTERPRISE?

Norita Cleshem, LEADER project officer with South West Mayo Development, recalled the first networking event which was held in Mayo.

“The theme was the environment. So we had different enterprises involved such as the Edible Landscape (a project in Westport) with nature activist Mary Reynolds as a key speaker. That was the first event we did post pandemic.

“Then we had the one in Tipperary and the theme there was social inclusion. We had speakers and enterprises there talking about their experience.

“The theme today was looking at the wider concept of enterprise and the future. We had very inspiring speeches and very good engagement.

“It showed us the value of networking. Even though the enterprises are different and geographically apart, there are a lot of similarities. You could see the learning in terms of challenges, vision and growth.

“The value of networking is that rather than enterprises developing and making the same mistakes, they can make new mistakes and they can learn from each other. We have set up relationships now and they can collaborate.

“Through the programme we introduced themed elementsheritage, community centres and community facilities. We married those so when the programme is over they can talk to each other. That was the ethos of the whole thing as this was a co-operation project. We have seen huge benefit in running it this way,” she said.

“Our business has been running for 23 years and we changed to a social enterprise model in 2017. It seeks to help people with improving both their physical and mental health,” she said.

“We have a health and leisure facility offering a swimming pool, sauna, exercise studio, gym and coffee dock. We are trying to take the barriers away from exercising, to open up our facilities to people that might not be able to afford or access a facility.”

“We run an inclusive facility for everybody - no matter your age, fitness level or ability. We probably doubled our numbers in the last four years.

“We are expanding rapidly. We wanted to get involved in this programme because we needed professional guidance on how to expand, how to scale up and how to strategically plan for the next five years so we are able to tackle anything.

“Our board is made up of voluntary members and now we have a roadmap of where we were going and developing smaller steps on how to get there. We want to expand the centre on the two acres next door and we are planning for that,” she said.

30 Groups

The 30 social enterprises with a description of what each one does are listed at: www. changingireland.ie

Yvonne Corcoran Loftus, curator of the Michael Davitt Museum, is also passionate about her project.

“Embarking on the ‘Co-operating to Succeed’ programme gave a chance to staff to upskill; in areas such as marketing, which is of huge benefit to the museum. The training has had a direct influence on the things we achieved. We have a more skilled workforce, more efficient work practices and a fantastic digital footprint. Our Facebook has grown from just over a thousand people to 4,500 followers now. It is because of the improved content - we have some fantastic content.”

The programme included on-site training.

“It was fantastic. He really interacted with the staff. Ideas were emerging from the staff and he just discussed it with them. He helped them develop their ideas and put them into action,” she said.

She thanked the trainers “for what we achieved with this”.

“I would like to also thank Norita Cleeshem from South West Mayo, people from the LEADER project and everyone involved.”

“It was a fantastic networking opportunity. You got to know other enterprises. You can touch base with them. You can question and promote each other.

“Enterprises do so much. I think it is fantastic that social good that is happening around the country,” she said.

“Social enterprises are businesses that work primarily to improve the lives of people. Their core objective is to achieve a social, societal, or environmental impact. They frequently work to support disadvantaged groups such as the long-term unemployed, people with disabilities, travellers, etc., or to address issues such as food poverty, social housing, or environmental matters.

“Like other businesses, social enterprises pursue their objectives by trading in goods and services on an ongoing basis. However, any surpluses generated by social enterprises are re-invested into achieving social objectives, rather than maximising profit for their owners.”

For a fuller definition, see: https://www.gov.ie/en/ publication/624c74-socialenterprise/