InTouch Issue 16

InTouch SOCIAL ENTERPRISE EAST OF ENGLAND

Autumn 2006 • Issue 16

Inside: Editorial

3

David Lloyd discusses why the dog didn’t bark, and why that’s important

New Business Link will field 50% more advisors

4

CICs Kick In

By Abbie Rumbold

With 13 locations, it seems that less will be more once EEIDB takes the reins

Commissioning Access Programme (Cambridge)

4

A new programme from The Social Enterprise People designed to help you widen your customer base and increase sustainability and profitability

The best kind of Friday

5

SEEE CEO Michele Rigby enthuses about young social entrepreneurs Eagleye, SBR and BCT

Virtual Coffee Mornings

5

Come along for half-an-hour each week without having to leave your desk

Equigas and Equipower

6

If you want to make a difference when you use your utilities, here’s how to do it

Enterprising partnership saves landfill and benefits local community

7

Millrace IT teams up with a big recycler – and there’s far more to it than commerce

Celebrating diversity in Norfolk

7

A new CIC with a vision of a society that nurtures and values people of all nations

(Social) Enterprising Culture

12

Consultant Adrian Ashton asks what it looks like, and if it can be created if it’s not there

Unco-operatively yours?

9

InTouch content editor Peter Durrant puzzles over why there isn’t more cooperation among social enterprises…

Focus On… Working in Partnership

10-13

14-15

What we hope is really useful information and news

New Kid on the Block

T

he community interest company recently celebrated its first birthday, having been available as a legal structure for social enterprise since July last year. So what is it and has it been a success? To answer the second question first, it would appear it has been a success. Over three hundred have been registered so far – an impressive growth rate, given that the other legal options available (for example, ordinary companies, charities, industrial and provident societies) have been around for at least a hundred and fifty years and some much longer.

What is a “CIC”?

Howard Tait talks to some of the good examples of co-operation and finds a winwin way of doing things is out there

Resources Unlimited

Foreground: Abbie Rumbold. Background: right – Artstop, a new Community Interest Company based at Blickling Hall, Norfolk. Left: – Rainbow Nations was launched in Norfolk in June with the support of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. – see page 7.

16

Screenreader.net – a business for blind people run by blind people

Internet: SEEE’s Web services are: http://www.seee.co.uk http://www.seee.co.uk/interactive

So what is a community interest company or “CIC” (pronounced “kick” by most)?

A CIC is a normal limited liability company (limited by shares or guarantee) which is subject to the “community interest test” and an “asset lock” imposed by the Companies (Audit, Investigations and Community Enterprise) Act 2004 (the “2004 Act”) and Regulations made under that Act. The Community Interest Test is set out in the 2004 Act. The test is whether “a reasonable person might consider the CIC’s activities are carried out for the benefit of the community”. On application, the Regulator will ask the directors of the proposed CIC who comprises the community it seeks to serve, what are its activities and how do those activities benefit that community. The Regulator will then assess whether the proposed CIC has passed or failed the test.

The CIC must continue to meet this test and provide evidence of this during the course of its existence. It does so by sending a CIC report each year, again describing its community, its activities and how those activities have benefited that community. This needs to be delivered with its accounts to Companies House, and will be placed on the public record.

The Asset Lock means that the assets of the CIC, and the income and profits, must be applied in the interests of the community. The asset lock imposes obligations that: ➜ page 2 • restrict the transfer of assets at less than full market value (unless to

SEEE feature Cover ➜

another asset locked body or in the community interest); and • cap the amount of dividends a CIC can pay; and • on dissolution require any surplus assets to be paid to another asset locked body (such asset locked body must be specified or alternatively the Regulator will chose a body in consultation with the directors at the time).

An asset locked body means either a CIC or a charity (including a Scottish charity but not any overseas charities), but it is to be noted that the CIC itself cannot be a charity.

The asset lock imposes no restriction on the payment of directors, provided that they are paid at market rate. This is a considerable advantage to many social entrepreneurs, who do not wish to become charities because they do not wish to give the control of their business to unpaid volunteers.

interest on such loans. There is no cap on the interest that can be paid in respect of such loans unless the interest rate is “performance related” (i.e. it is linked to the profit made by the CIC). In such a case the interest rate that can be paid is capped at 4% percent above the Bank of England base lending rate.

A CIC can grant security in respect of grants and loans

If the founders of the CIC wish to raise equity capital they will need the CIC to be a company limited by shares. A CIC can pay dividends, however these are subject to the cap specified in the CIC Regulations. These caps encapsulate the necessary compromise between offering a reasonable return to investors so as to make the investment attractive, while still protecting the community interest. The Regulator may amend the caps but at present specifies that: (a) the share dividend cap shall be 5 percentage points higher than the Bank of England’s base lending rate (by reference to The matter of funding the paid up nominal value of a share); and For many social entrepreneurs the principle barrier to starting (b) the aggregate dividend cap shall be 35 percent of the relevant up or expanding is funding. So how can a CIC finance itself? company’s distributable profits.

A CIC can receive grants. The Regulator has, in the past The CIC is a flexible and innovative legal form for social year, undertaken a tour of grant funders, with the purpose of enterprise. It is not suited to every social explaining to them what the CIC is. enterprise but for many it will provide a Many funders have now said they are Abbie Rumbold is a solicitor with Bates, simple and easy to use solution. If you happy to fund CICs, but there are some Wells and Braithewaite, who first would like further information you will who cannot due to the way in which introduced the possibility of the Community find the detailed guidance in the CIC they were established, or who will not Interest Company (CIC), to the Cabinet. She Regulator’s website at www.cicRegulator. as they do not wish to change internal presented a session on CICs at the SEEE gov.uk. policy. A CIC may find it harder to AGM in June. obtain grant funding than a charity but See: “Workshops: CIC, Shiny new thing E: A.Rumbold@bateswells.co.uk easier than an ordinary company. or just spin?” On p.9 of Summer 2006 T: 020 7551 7777 A CIC can also receive loans and pay InTouch.

i

Fully Funded Social Enterprise Support Training Courses Throughout Bedfordshire Business Link for Bedfordshire and Luton will be delivering Funded Training and workshops provided free of charge throughout October 2006 to March 2007 for the benefit of all Social Enterprises and budding social entrepreneurs within Bedfordshire (including community groups, voluntary groups and anyone interested in community work).

If you are a social enterprise or a social entrepreneur and would like to receive training and support in: • Legal Structures • Marketing • ICT • E-Commerce • Business Planning • Access to Finance • Continuous Improvement • Sustainability • Public Procurement To find out more information about this excellent opportunity (t) 0845 850 8822 (e) Socialenterprisetraining@bl4bl.co.uk

2 InTouch

No 16 Autumn 2006

Editorial From the Editor

InTouch Social Enterprise East of England Autumn 2006 Issue 16 InTouch is published by SEEE (funded

by EEDA/Investing in Communities) SEEE Bedford iLab Stannard Way Bedford MK44 3RZ T: 01480 861607 To communicate with SEEE contact:

The dog that didn’t bark I

David Lloyd is managing director of Business for People in Huntingdon. He is editor and contributor to various publications

’ve been reviewing some new books on the new(ish) science(?) of happiness. In one of the more entertaining ones, Stumbling on Happiness by Harvard psychology professor Daniel Gilbert, quite some space is devoted to the fact that people are far worse at discerning things they don’t see than things they do see.

Gilbert gives the example of a Sherlock Holmes novel in which a racehorse is stolen. A colonel (read ‘idiot’) – convinced of who the culprit is – turns to Holmes: ‘Is there any point to which you would wish to draw my attention?’

‘To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time.’

‘The dog did nothing in the night-time.’

‘That was the curious incident,’ remarked Sherlock Holmes.

(Silver Blaze, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1892).

The novel goes on to point out that the dog, in a stable with two lads sleeping in the loft above, didn’t bark because it obviously knew the thief very well.

CEO: Michele Rigby

Not seeing what’s not there

michele.rigby@seee.co.uk

The reason magicians can entertain us is because we too easily believe things are there that aren’t – we subconsciously make approximations all the time, and are actually quite easily tricked. In particular, many tricks rely on us not noticing what is missing.

In this issue of InTouch, the majority of articles demonstrate how the sector is moving forward, and we have reasons to be upbeat. The Community Interest Company (CIC) is a great step forward as a company form tailor-made for social enterprises, as the number of new CICs in one year attests (see page 1). There’s a whole new generation of young social entrepreneurs coming through: to find out what Michele Rigby got up to one recent Friday, see page 5. Howard Tait gives some great examples of social enterprises working together in Focus On… starting on page 10.

Editorial Staff: Editor: David Lloyd intouch@seee.co.uk Content Editor: Peter Durrant Contributing Editor: Howard Tait Advertising Sales: Joseph Law T: 01480 861607 Creative/production Editor: Austin Bambrook LGS T: 01480 436651

Are we barking?

Please send PR and other information items to: Peter Durrant, e-mail: humberstone@pop3.poptel.org.uk T: 01223 262759

But here’s the rub. The reason we gave Howard this particular assignment was because it is comparatively rare to see social enterprises working together in a really joined up way. This is a little perplexing, as Peter Durrant reflects on page 9. Adrian Ashton touches on some social enterprise cultural issues on page 8 and talks about getting smarter by working together and tapping into the expertise that’s already there.

Some observers are aware that the dog isn’t barking – or in the case of social enterprises that quite a few organisations aren’t communicating.

If this sounds a little like your organisation, then perhaps you really are missing something. There are a number of ways of working smarter – and talking to other people who’ve ‘been there got the T-shirt’ must rank high among these. The region’s six sub-regional networks are listed on page 9 and the contact is also, in each case, the network’s representative on the SEEE board (note, it’s not the other way round …). The Business Links – still operational until EEIDB takes over early next year (see page 4) – and other organisations have programmes to assist social enterprises and help them share experiences, and these can also be accessed via the sub-regional networks. Last, but by no means least, SEEE CEO Michele Rigby is a seasoned social entrepreneur herself, and she’s working very hard to help develop the sector in the Eastern Region.

She’d be pleased to hear from you at the regular SEEE Friday virtual coffee morning, or at any other time.

Dogs like sausages

The opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in an information retrieval system or transmitted in any form without the written permission of the publishers.

This publication has been prepared using information provided by contributors and, while we make every effort, accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Social Enterprise East of England (SEEE) Ltd is unable to accept any liability for the consequences of any inaccuracies, errors or omissions in this publication. No representations, warranties or endorsements of any kind are intended.

By the time I write this column again, I’ll have tried out another idea from commerce on some willing / longsuffering colleagues – the business breakfast. The idea is that, if people get to know one another’s businesses better, then they can support, promote and even buy from one another when opportunities arise. And the breakfast will be over before the day’s work begins. So, if the neighbours didn’t hear any dogs barking, presumably it will have been because we all got on famously well and thoroughly enjoyed Peter Durrant’s veggie sausages.

© SEEE 2006

InTouch

No 16 Autumn 2006

3

News

New Business Link will field 50% more advisors

B

usinesses in the East of England will have access to 50 percent more Business Link advisors, following confirmation in August that East of England IDB Ltd (EEIDB) is the preferred supplier for the region’s service.

The £45 million contract will include more locally-based, independent and impartial advisors and specialists for rural businesses, women’s enterprise, ICT and other priorities, in a service that will act as the gateway for small businesses to access advice throughout the East of England. EEIDB will manage the Business Link service from April 2007, when it will increase the number of on-the-ground impartial advisors from 60 to 90, with plans to increase this to over 100 in the future.

EEIDB will have 13 locations

EEIDB Ltd was previously announced as the preferred bidder, and the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) has now confirmed that EEIDB is the preferred supplier, on the basis that it will deliver the greatest improvements to the quality, consistency and accessibility of Business Link services.

Simon Ash, head of business services at EEDA, said: “EEIDB has impressed EEDA with its passion for serving small businesses and increasing the number of people who successfully start new businesses. Not only will it increase the number of advisors and sector specialists, but also it will base advisors at 13 locations, allowing businesses in all parts of the region even greater access to services. We have every confidence that by working with EEIDB chief executive Pat Smith and his team, we will be able to provide an invaluable service that ‘thinks regionally and acts locally’”.

Pat Smith, chief executive designate of EEIDB Ltd, said: “This is a very exciting time for Business Link in the East of England, and we are looking forward to providing a first-class service across the region that will deliver consistent high-quality support, regardless of where businesses are located. We are now looking to engage with local partners and service providers so that we can identify the most appropriate sites and ensure that the changes are implemented smoothly at a local level”.

Transition arrangements

Pat Smith, CEO Designate of EEIDB

Over the coming months, EEIDB will be speaking to businesses, key partners and stakeholders to ensure that local views and sector needs are incorporated into the delivery plans of the new Business Link service.

In the meantime, the Business Link operators in Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk are open for business and committed to offering high-quality business support to companies and individuals seeking to start, grow or maintain a business. Social enterprises looking for support can visit www.businesslink.gov.uk or telephone 0845 600 9006 to access the service.

Commissioning Access Programme (Cambridgeshire)

T

he Social Enterprise People, as part of the Greater Cambridgeshire P a r t n e r s h i p’s I n v e s t i n g i n Communities programme, are about to launch the Commissioning Access Programme (CAP). The programme will provide social enterprises throughout Cambridgeshire opportunities and advice about accessing statutory organisations’ procurement contracts.

David Coulson, CAP Programme Manager commented “the programme has three main components; visibility, information and training. In talking to commissioning officers through Cambridgeshire, one key issue that

4 InTouch

No 16 Autumn 2006

keeps returning is visibility of individual organisations throughout the sector. A core component of CAP will be a website that will show all of the organisations involved in the programme, the services they can provide and the geographical area in which they operate”.

A one-stop shop to profitability?

will be able to see immediately which organisations there are in their area, what services they provide and what training the organisations have attended.

David Coulson added “we’re hoping that this will become a one-stop-shop for both statutory organisations, helping them to liaise and interact more closely with their local communities, and social enterprises looking to widen their customer base and hopefully move closer to sustainability and profitability”.

There will be a significant training aspect to the programme, which will focus on a number of key elements such as quality assurance, bidding for contracts and also will encourage David Coulson organisations to register on T: 01223 305364 or the National Prequalification E: david@thesocialenterprisepeople.co.uk Register. Commissioning officers

i

Membership Services

The best kind of Friday Michele Rigby, CEO Social Enterprise East of England

W

hat is your best way to spend a Friday? For me, it’s pretty good if I go somewhere new, have an event or meeting that I don’t need to prepare a great deal for, and meet up with some enthusiastic and exciting people to hear about challenging ideas that propel me nicely into the weekend. Oh, and if we have a great VCM (Virtual Coffee Morning) too, it helps!

So in early August, I definitely had the best kind of Friday. I was invited to the Young Enterprise Social Enterprise Summer School at the University of Essex. It was the last day, and I had been asked to help judge the social enterprises that the three teams had been preparing.

I’m not going to describe the companies, as I have asked the MDs of the three to come on to our web forum when they start the new term and tell us about

it themselves. But I can say that the commitment and the innovation of the young people was outstanding. They came up with three very different ideas, and spent the fortnight working on business planning, marketing, team building, problem solving, and goal setting.

I can’t tell you how impressed I was with the ground that they covered in the time.

For those who have not been involved in Young Enterprise, the companies are judged on a display, an interview and a presentation. In this instance, they had also had a chance to make a short video advert in which they starred, directed, produced.

Fantastic!

The enthusiasm for their ideas, the range of social issues, the professionalism of the presentations, and the self-confidence and the awareness of business issues and the learning process were amazing. If this is

indicative of the new generation of social entrepreneurs in our region, we can expect to see some real changes in the next five to ten years.

Having asked the achievers to post on our Forum, I, for one, am really looking forward to hearing more - so over to Eagleye, SBR, and BCT! P.S. And yes, we had a great VCM as well, and you can read about that on the Virtual Coffee Morning Forum (see below left).

i

Michele Rigby Chief Executive Officer SEEE T: 01234 834711 E: michele.rigby@seee.co.uk

Virtual Coffee Mornings

SEEE Virtual Coffee Mornings are getting quite a head of steam. Using the text chat function of the free skype program, which requires no special equipment to use, our members can meet up online each Friday at 11am to discuss relevant issues in real time, and make useful connections too. For more information, visit the Virtual Coffee Mornings Section of our interactive site via http://snipurl.com/vg0g Discussion topics thus far have included Social Accounting, how to find the strengths of your staff, EEDA, Tax, CICs, Young Enterprise funding challenges for social enterprises and communications between SEs. If you have any ideas for topics for future discussion, please contact our CEO, Michele Rigby, at michele.rigby@seee.co.uk.

We hope to see you there next Friday morning!

InTouch

No 16 Autumn 2006

5

Social business

Equigas and Equipower Fighting fuel poverty with fairness

I

t’s hard to imagine that in the 21st century, people in Britain are dying because they can’t afford to heat their homes. But right now, around eight million British households are in fuel poverty. Each winter, lack of heating is responsible for up to 50,000 premature deaths, making it second only to smoking as a preventable cause of death.

The stereotypical image of a vulnerable person dying of hypothermia accounts for around 200 deaths a year but most winter deaths are due to respiratory infections, asthma, heart disease and stroke, all of which are exacerbated by cold, damp conditions. Yet, countries with more severe winters than Britain have less seasonal variation of mortality.

Fuel poverty is defined as having to spend over 10 per cent of income on heating the home to adequate temperatures for health and comfort, and providing hot water and lighting. This is the case for many vulnerable people such as pensioners and disabled people, whose problem is compounded by the fact that they spend more time at home. Millions of children and lowincome families are also affected.

A different approach with Equigas and Equipower

In 1997, Phil Levermore was working with an energy company that was looking to enter the, then, newly competitive market in domestic gas supply. Phil realised that all those companies entering this market would try to attract, with their keenest prices, households that used significant amounts of gas and paid by direct debit, as these customers would be cheaper to serve.

But his analysis also revealed that those who needed to budget very carefully for their gas with a pre-payment meter, and also those who used relatively small amounts of gas, would be much less attractive to companies and would, therefore, pay more. Phil was struck by the unfairness of this harsh commercial logic that resulted in higher prices for those customers who tend to be on lower incomes.

The following year Phil joined with three others to strike a deal with Southern Electric Gas and launch Equigas. Equigas is the only UK gas supplier to offer an equal tariff to all customers, regardless of payment method or how much power they use (fixed standing charges means the less power you use, the more you effectively pay to bring it into your home). And as a notfor-profit company, with no shareholders, all profits go towards lowering prices for customers.

6 InTouch

No 16 Autumn 2006

By Catherine Francis

They went on to launch Equipower, which works on the same principles for household electricity supply.

“The key aspect of both Equigas and Equipower is that all our customers share the benefits of competition equally,” says Phil.

“Because of this, we pledge to pre-payment meter customers that we will offer them the cheapest gas and electricity they can get.”

Would you pay more for social equity?

But to make the scheme work, Equigas and Equipower need customers who pay in a variety of ways. “In order for us to maintain our pledge, it is vital that people also join us who use Direct Debit or pay their bills quarterly. This is a challenging concept, because the Equigas and Equipower tariffs are not the cheapest for such customers. We need people who are more concerned about issues of social equity than shaving an extra few Pounds off their annual gas and electricity bill,” admits Phil.

“We are offering them the opportunity to be directly involved in advancing social equity and protecting those with fewer advantages in life”.

Unlike drug abuse, delinquency and crime, fuel poverty is a social problem that is often overlooked. For most of the year, the media ignores the fact that, for many people in this country, it is a major challenge just to heat their homes.

People before profit

“My desire to do something about inequalities in the utility industry is entirely influenced by my faith,” says Phil. “As Christians, the founders of EBICo, the holding company of Equigas and Equipower believe that people come before profits, and we seek to operate on principles of fairness and equality.”

Equigas and Equipower now have around 1,200 customers, drawn largely from the Christian population, and some other groups trying to support people on low incomes, such as local councils. One simple way to fight fuel poverty is buy your gas and electricity from Equigas and Equipower. There is no disruption to your power supply, and no new pipes or meters need to be installed.

i

To find out more, call Equigas/Equipower on T: 0845 456 0170, or W: www.Equigas.co.uk First published by Christian Herald newspaper, which has since been succeeded by Inspire magazine – the good news monthly for churches and individuals, available from www.inspiremagazine.org.uk

News

Enterprising partnership saves landfill and benefits local community

E

ssex based computer recycling and IT training social enterprise, MillRace IT, has established a partnership with Britain’s largest specialist in the reuse and recycling of computers, RDC, based in Witham, Essex.

MillRace IT, a subsidiary of the Essex mental health and learning disability charity InterAct, moved to RDC’s premises in June 2005 and has already processed over 10,000 items of used IT equipment. RDC provide accommodation to the social enterprise in return for assistance in the processing of equipment during peak times.

A working partnership

“Our partnership with RDC has seen both organisations addressing our social, environmental and economic objectives and reaching an agreement that is mutually beneficial,” says Anne Pleasant, Director of MillRace IT. “MillRace IT, via its business activities offers both training and employment opportunities for disadvantaged people in Essex. People recovering from mental health problems or other disadvantage are supported through direct employment within the organisation or through participation in the accredited training as a progressive step to employment. Thanks to RDC we can now provide a better service to even more local people”.

Mayor of Witham, Councillor Tearle and Chairman of Braintree District Council, Councillor Finbow at the official launch of the MillRace IT and RDC relationship in March

Commitment to sustainability and social inclusion

RDC, part of the Computacenter Group, employs 170 people over two large sites in Witham, Essex and their German operation near Cologne. The company is fully ISO certified and was awarded the Queens Award for Enterprise for Innovation in 2002. “Our partnership with MillRace IT highlights our commitment to sustainable development and social inclusion,” says Gerry Hackett, RDC Managing Director. “RDC has achieved zero landfill for recycled IT equipment and shares our best practice certified processes with MillRace IT. We can together offer our customers an opportunity to demonstrate real corporate and social responsibility.”

Kirstin Terris E: kirstin.terris@interact.org.uk or T: 01245 608250 Further information on Millrace IT: W: www.millraceit.co.uk Further information on RDC: W: www.rdc.co.uk Further information on InterAct: W: www.interact.org.uk

i

Celebrating diversity in Norfolk R

ainbow Nations is a young dynamic Co m m u n i t y In t e re s t Co m p a n y that has celebrated its recent launch.

Rainbow Nations is committed to making a difference in Norfolk communities by tackling the challenging areas of diversity, bullying and conflict management.

“We are faced with the growing needs of global citizenship and diversity awareness in Norfolk. Rainbow Nations’ vision is for a society which nurtures and values people of all nations,” says Amalia Hendricks, founder of the company.

Rainbow Nations seek to promote their vision by running interactive workshops in schools, colleges and all centres for learning.

i The launch of Rainbow Nations took place on Friday 23 June

InTouch

No 16 Autumn 2006

7

Opinion

(Social) Enterprising Culture – What does it look like, and can it be created if it’s not there?

By Adrian Ashton

I

ncreasingly, entrepreneurs both social and traditional are admired in society at large and within their local communities; people are increasingly confident about starting new enterprises; and there’s always some new initiative being announced as to how our country can become even more ‘enterprising’.

Last year’s winner of ‘The Apprentice’ has even ‘gone public’ with their ambition to become a social entrepreneur!

What does it mean at a local level?

But what does this mean at a regional and local level – how does it impact on the culture that social enterprise finds itself trading within? And is that culture indeed becoming ‘more enterprising’ as we’re led to believe?

People and communities are motivated, driven and sustained by their aspirations to create solutions to their situations and needs through establishing new enterprises; but the finance to support them is harder to come by for a whole range of reasons.

A need to be more competitive, more professional

approaches the norm.

O t h e r re s e a rc h h i g h l i g h t s that the majority of selfmade millionaires come from ‘disadvantaged backgrounds’, including areas that have been identified as a key part of society from which the new generation of social entrepreneurs are expected to emerge.

And perhaps in light of previous comments of the changes in the marketplace for social enterprises trading and starting up, it shows that a culture to support social e n t e r p r i s e i s t h e re f o re b e s t developed from adversity and challenge. This involves people living ‘out of their comfort zones’, challenging accepted wisdom and norms around themselves, and imaginative as to the benefits that new enterprises offer.

What a (social) enterprise culture looks like

Lemonade from lemons

So what does a (social) enterprise culture therefore look like? Well, it’s based on, and responsive to, social need and market forces locally and globally. It requires people broaden their general u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f h ow e n t e r p r i s e functions and are able to access specialist support. It’s also a place where there’s little room for prolonged personal comfort, assumptions are constantly questioned, and people are valued not on their background, but their passion and ability.

Does that sound like your local economy? Probably not, and that’s why government is driving forward new initiatives to encourage entrepreneurship, particularly from a young age, and in areas of deprivation – to better empower people to turns their dreams into profitable realities for both themselves and their communities.

However, economies and cultures aren’t created or changed by a series of individual initiatives enacted by different agencies – which all too often work in isolation to each other.

However, increased competition offers a positive dimension to consider, as without it enterprises stagnate and die. Through constantly ‘proving themselves’ and their worth, innovation (“being enterprising”) must now be constant and new ideas and

So, where does this leave us? good ideas and intent, but more work needed on bringing all the ‘players’ together to work in

Coupled with the increasing ethical expectations of customers and staff, it means that that this respect and admiration – which is increasingly accorded to our entrepreneurs – is hard earned. The globalisation of markets and the increases in ICT also mean that smaller sized enterprises are now facing competition from potentially anywhere on the planet.

Entrepreneurs therefore find themselves needing to be more responsive and able to make informed decisions more quickly. The marketplace is forcing social entrepreneurs to be more knowledgeable in their business acumen while balancing the needs of their new enterprises with those social concerns they are pledged to address.

Intermediaries and support advisers must therefore become more specialist as the demand for general advice and support is now met by the ‘clients’ themselves.

8 InTouch

No 16 Autumn 2006

Communicating, setting the agenda

a more effective partnership. After all, each has something vitally important to offer, be it access to the next generation of the workforce, or the power to change legislation. However, all need to recognise that they need to listen to, and act on each others’ capacity and needs, rather than just ‘doing their bit’.

Perhaps the biggest challenge of all is that creating or changing a culture takes time – usually a lot longer than the typical term of a government…which leaves us as the support providers, individual social enterprises, and others to set the agenda and keep it on course through whatever means we can, and according to what we know to be appropriate to our local economy.

East of England well poised

The East of England is already well ahead of many other areas in this respect through the development of a strong and robust regional strategy for social enterprise that’s been driven not by government, but by the sector itself. In this regard, the region already has the foundations of a strong social enterprise culture.

Adrian Ashton is an independent consultant with a wealth of experience and insight in the social enterprise sector.

E: adrian_ashton2@yahoo.co.uk T: 07786 492313

Opinion

Unco-operatively yours?

By Peter Durrant

W

e know that there is some co-operation between co-operatives and other social enterprises throughout the region, but it seems to be a fair, even though general, argument that few of us are really good at co-operating with each other.

There are notable exceptions: for instance Rainbow Anglia Credit Union Ltd is exploring participatory links with the twenty-plus credit unions throughout the six counties of the East of England, who are inter-trading and generally keeping in touch. On this front the work of the Cambridgeshire local authority Trading Standards department, as they pioneer grassroots work from two deprived estates in the county, is outstanding. At the same time it could be argued that, in spite of considerable development work currently being undertaken by the Cambridge Housing Society, too many regional credit unions are failing to explore the benefits of cooperation. Other examples of collaborating social enterprises are featured in this issue of InTouch.

The sixth co-operative principle and common interests

The sixth co-operative principle commits organisations with one-person-one-vote status to develop operational links, so we are especially puzzled why groups with strong co-operative credentials do not seem to be working closely together in the six counties. It could even be, harshly, argued that some co-operative structures have long ago forgotten their commonweal principles.

One indicator is when we recently tried to work with colleagues to see if we could, between us, produce a co-operative piece on these themes – but even in that we failed. Similarly a quick scan of all 15 previous copies of InTouch fails to provide any evidence-based conclusions that co-operation works OK. But

Sub-regional Social Enterprise Networks Social enterprise in the Eastern Region has six local networks, all of which are actively campaigning, holding events, and keeping their members informed. See the table below to find your local contact: Sub-region

SEEE Network contact

Email

Beds & Luton

Garth McKenzie

garth.mckenzie@ bedscc.gov.uk

Greater Cambs & Peterborough

Celia Hodson

celia@thesocial enterprisepeople.co.uk

Essex

Andy Brady

andrew.brady@ anglia.ac.uk

Hertfordshire

Elaine McCorriston

hertset@exemplas.com

Norfolk

Jane Taylor

alewifebrewery@ yahoo.co.uk

Suffolk

Cynthia Schears

cynthia.schears@ suffolkacre.org.uk

why should this be so? After all, if social enterprises of all sorts cannot demonstrate to the statutory, voluntary and commercial sector that they have established more efficient ways of positively relating to each other, the question as to what is our uniqueness really is left unanswered.

This is the more striking since social enterprises are usually community focused, involved in local regeneration and renewal programmes as they provide local goods and services and create employment for local people. They also provide a means by which wealth can be retained in communities for longer. With these thoughts in mind it is somewhat surprising that social enterprises often don’t talk to, support one another and pro-actively cooperate when they have many common interests and face similar challenges. Especially when there are vast areas of unrealised potential with, for example, health, housing, education, planning and newly structured social services departments, whom – if we could only move them on – are tailor-made for the services we have on offer.

Some positive examples

Some good examples are, however, beginning to show through though and, as stated, we feature some in this issue. There are also six sub-regional networks and such ideas as the SEEE virtual coffee morning at 11 am on Fridays is bringing those involved in the social enterprise field together to share ideas (Ed: see boxes).

Again, often single-handedly, The Guild’s Nearbuyou has valiantly been attempting to overcome this problem of communication for some years now, with its trading and networking website at www. nearbuyou..co.uk. Whilst the Cambridge Building Society’s use of their local community shop-fronts, leisure centres responding to GP prescriptions and community colleges – with almost new uniform outlets – also demonstrate the way forward.

If, we challenged ourselves to look for: 1. common ground, 2. ways of avoiding duplication, 3. examples of how we might think more creatively about how to fill in some of the social enterprise gaps which currently exist, and 4. identify a co-operative characteristic – a sense of common ownership – then perhaps we really would be Peter Durrant is the content editor of working together more the “Resources” section of InTouch e f f e c t i ve l y f o r t h e and an advocate of co-operatives common benefit … coand credit unions in the region operatively.

InTouch

No 16 Autumn 2006

9

Focus on… Working in Partnership

Articles by Howard Tait

STEnG

O

ne of the social enterprise sector’s greatest success stories over the past few years has been in the field of social training. Through the dedicated work of a number of enterprises throughout the region, large numbers of people – who otherwise would have been unlikely to have been able to do so – have been helped into work. Because many of them have learning and physical disabilities, sensory impairment or mental health problems, social training – far from ending when people start work – continues to offer support, mentoring and lifelong learning opportunities throughout the client’s working life.

Networking revealed similar challenges

STEnG, the Social Training Enterprises Group, is a partnership of ten social enterprises working in the field of social training in Cambridgeshire. It originated from not much more than casual networking by the directors of the various groups who quickly realised that, as Des Trollip of Rowan Humberstone in Cambridge put it, “we knew that we needed to be talking to each other”.

Although the organisations that are part of STEnG are different in many respects both in what they do and the nature of their constitutions, all faced similar problems, and it soon became clear that there were many benefits to be gained from sharing ideas and information. The directors started holding bi-monthly meetings and it quickly became obvious that there were even more benefits to be gained through co-operating together wherever they could. Subsequently – as a group – they have run roadshows, attended job fairs and lobbied MPs. They have also raised funds together, jointly tendered for contracts selling their services as a group and negotiated with councils.

Independent, yet stronger together

However, like all social enterprises, the individual groups that make up the membership of STEnG, are all fiercely independent.

They all have their own directors, their own structures and their own ways of doing what they do. Being part of STEnG does not affect their ability to act independently in any way and nor was it ever intended to. The purpose of STEnG is to allow independent organisations, all practitioners in the same field

10 InTouch

No 16 Autumn 2006

in Cambridgeshire, to use their combined strength wherever they can to achieve more by acting in unison than they could acting alone. But there is more to it than that: crucially, they support each other, they buy and sell goods and services among themselves, they share experience, some costs and sources of funding and help each other whenever they can. However, Des Trollip stated quite emphatically that STEnG is not an umbrella group; he told me, “we are scared of it becoming an umbrella organisation, which would draw on resources that could be better used elsewhere”.

STEnG itself and its individual member organisations are members of different umbrella groups which support social enterprises in the region. But their policy is that rather than all of them joining all of the relevant umbrella organisations, two or three of the directors from the membership join each of the organisations. In that way they are able to represent the interests of all their members collectively; making sure that their voice is heard without unnecessary duplication of effort.

Challenge of reducing funding

Organisations providing social training and support to adults, as the STEnG members do, are facing new challenges and difficult times. The care element of their funding has been removed, although not the need for continuing care, and changes to government policies will also have the effect of reducing their funding. Money which up to now has been available for adult education is being largely redirected to remedial education of young people let down by the education system. While it is widely known that this will affect adult education evening classes, it will also reduce the funding available for social training.

The benefits of co-operation and communication between the STEnG members have been considerable, and STEnG is developing to meet the new challenges they jointly face. They have drawn up a business plan, elected a chair and vice-chair and have applied for funding to employ a co-ordinator, preparing themselves for the problems ahead. Working together has taught them that they are stronger acting together: and acting together will help them to weather the challenges they now jointly face.

Focus on… Working in Partnership

P

roduced in Norfolk(PIN) is a not-forprofit co-operative run by producers for the benefit of the producers. Its aim is to promote high quality food, craft and gifts genuinely produced in the county: but there is a lot more to PIN than just that.

The inspiration which led to the creation of PIN came when Jane Taylor, then owner of the Alewife brewery, went to Cumbria to attend a conference about running a rural business.

The first thing that struck her was that the hotel in which she stayed used only food produced locally in its restaurant and proudly advertised the fact.

Co-operation, pride and a sense of community Talking to local producers at the conference, she found that all of them took a great deal of pride in what they produced, and especially in the fact that it was local. However, the thing that really brought the message home was that everyone she spoke to – not just the producers – seemed to take just as much pride in the local produce and crafts. Even the taxi driver who took her to the conference centre pointed out the workshop of a local furniture maker and proudly informed her that he had made some of the furniture at the centre.

The Made in Cumbria centre itself was set up by the county council to promote foods, arts and crafts in the county. It had two shops, one selling food, the other crafts and gifts. To Jane, the obvious local pride she encountered seemed to be the foundation of the strong sense of community she found wherever she went in the area.

Latent potential in Norfolk

Thinking about it on the train journey home and with time to kill in Norwich waiting for her connecting train, Jane decided to see what Norfolk products were available in the county town. She visited the main tourist attractions and a number of shops but other than the ubiquitous Norfolk lavender, she found nothing else recognisably from Norfolk. What was there was from out of the county and, a sign of the times, even the sign at the station read ‘welcome to Anglia’. It was as if Norfolk had been left out of Norwich.

At the same time Jane knew that people producing high quality food and crafts in the county were growing ever more concerned at the decline in the markets open to them. The contrast with what she had found in Cumbria could not have been more stark.

Discussing what she had discovered with a business colleague, they decided to do something about the situation and the idea for Produced in Norfolk was born. Messages sent throughout a women’s network, to which they both belonged, brought in responses from fifteen people who were interested in joining, a much larger response than they had expected, which underlined the need for such an organisation.

Although Made in Cumbria had provided the inspiration, there was a serious flaw in the model. One thing that Jane had found talking to producers at the conference was that while they were extremely grateful to the council and full of praise for Made in Cumbria, a main area of weakness was a lack of understanding of the ever-changing market place.

Recognising this as a major weakness, Jane and colleagues decided to build PIN from the bottom up. They created a steering committee of six, formulated a business plan and spent the next two years in preparation, a lot of it on market research. PIN was formally launched in May 2005 with the help of 50% funding from DEFRA.

Homework paid off

The two years spent preparing for the launch, and particularly the market research they undertook during that time, has paid off

handsomely. In little more than a year, PIN has over 140 members and is already making an appreciable difference.

Many of the members had previously been isolated in rural parts of the county; networking with other members has brought each vital support and has encouraged the creation of local supply chains. In addition, membership of PIN has brought them business support, access to training and funds plus the undoubted benefits of central marketing. Small ‘PINlocal’ business support groups have been created. Usually consisting of six or so members, they meet once a month to thrash out problems and to discuss ideas.

In addition to paying an annual subscription, all members also have to donate a set number of hours working for the organisation.

As well as helping to keep the overall costs down, it helps members feel part of the organisation and offers more opportunities for networking.

Growing links at home and abroad

PIN is constantly working to expand existing markets for its members as well as creating new ones both locally and nationally and has also started building contacts in Europe. Earlier this year, Slow Food Aylsham took a party of local school children to Orvieto con Gusto, Italy where they cooked bangers and mash, followed by apple pie, for local dignitaries, all made from PIN members’ produce. Always on the lookout for new opportunities for the members, they used their free time doing market research and establishing links with local food shops in the area, with the result that some PIN members are now producing for the European market.

As well as being a member of Tastes of Anglia, FARMA and the Norfolk Social Enterprise Network, PIN has also established links with a number of business groups. One, based in Dereham, has recently donated IT equipment, which in return gives the group an opportunity to sell their goods and services to PIN members. Other business groups have made donations totalling over £90,000 to PIN.

Rural regeneration at the heart

Like many social enterprises, PINs headline work is only part of the story, its real work is rural regeneration. The aims of the project are to safeguard over 1,000 rural jobs in the county as well as creating new ones, to create more sustainable tourism and to lead to a more sustainable rural economy for the local communities.

In addition, old skills are being passed on to a new generation helping to keep those skills alive and giving young people new opportunities.

Although PIN’s members work in a variety of fields from cheese makers to milliners, the members have no doubts about the benefits they have gained through co-operation. It has already created a recognisable Norfolk brand, giving its members opportunities and access to markets, without which some of the members may not have survived. Local people are becoming proud of their local produce bringing a renewed sense of pride of place, but Jane will only consider PIN a success when everyone in the community feels part of it. They are already well on the way to achieving this.

InTouch

No 16 Autumn 2006

11

Focus on… Working in Partnership

Keystone Development Trust I

n 2003 the Keystone Partnership emerged from the public sector to become the Keystone Development Trust. However, far from being merely a successor body, KDT has developed into a very different entity altogether.

A broad spectrum of services

From being a Single Regeneration Budget (SRB) project and part of Breckland Council, it quickly became an organisation which now delivers services over an increasingly broad spectrum. These include child and youth work and training – particular vocational training. There is also a whole range of services designed to help business start ups and to offer support to social enterprises within KDT’s area of operation. Additionally, a host of other services and enterprises operates both within and outside of its geographical area. Keystone has, during this time, also built up a portfolio of seven properties, including the Keystone Enterprise Factory – which offers subsidised start-up industrial units; and the recently opened Innovation Centre – which offers subsidised start-up office space as well as having a catering unit.

Chief Executive Neil Stott freely admits that Keystone was lucky in that it started with a large public endowment; but as any business person knows, it is not the money per se, but what is done with the money that counts. In Keystone’s case, they spend every pound they get twice: firstly to deliver the services they provide but secondly – and more importantly – they also invest it for the future.

Like all development trusts, Keystone is part charity, part social enterprise and part commercial enterprise. Much of the charitable work Keystone does receives no outside funding and funds have to be provided from its own resources.

Keystone expects its social enterprises to break even but it is its commercial enterprises, including the rental income stream from its property portfolio, which not only helps to fund the charitable and social work it undertakes, but has also brought a financial stability which allows Keystone to be able to plan two to three years ahead.

Not for private profit

There is a well-known law that applies to all organisations, but especially to commercial ones; any organisation which is not growing, is in decline. In the case of a commercial enterprise, that growth is measured by the profits it generates. Quite simply, any business that does not make a profit will not survive and that is true whether the enterprise is a social enterprise or a purely commercial one.

The current vogue for ‘not for profit’ companies is wholly misleading. As Neil Stott said, “what we are really talking about, is ‘not for private profit’ companies”, and it is that understanding that underpins Keystone’s commercial enterprises.

In the commercial world an entrepreneur will seek to make the very highest return on any investment they make and will ‘sweat’ that investment for every pound they can squeeze out of it. Keystone are well aware that they have to follow the same commercial best practice; because every pound they can squeeze out of any commercial investment they make is another pound to help fund their social and charitable enterprises.

There are other ways in which Keystone has adopted commercial best practice. In the private sector, companies both large and small frequently form strategic alliances to tender for

12 InTouch

No 16 Autumn 2006

contracts that they would otherwise not be able to consider. This requires a clear assessment both of what the companies involved can do and what they cannot do on their own.

Keystone actively seeks out partners to form strategic alliances to tender for contracts for both its commercial and social enterprises.

Knowing what it does best, it looks for partners to supply those things it can’t. A perfect example is the alliance Keystone formed with Cambridge University and Social Firms East. Together they tendered for and won a contract to prepare Suffolk Realise to break free of the public sector to become a stand-alone organisation, as Keystone itself had done three years earlier.

Forming such alliances allows Keystone to ‘punch above its weight’ and it has had a range of partners from small local enterprises to large national ones. However, Neil Stott emphasised that it is absolutely vital that all parties must know exactly what they are required to do and what they will get in return. Unless this is comprehensively agreed from the very outset, even the best partnerships will ultimately flounder.

Hard-nosed reality

Many people find hard-nosed business practices distasteful and some believe that they are inappropriate for the social enterprise sector. The harsh reality is that there is really no other way for an enterprise to be run securely. Social enterprises have no choice other than to look to their own security because the sector has possible problems on the horizon which people like Neil Stott are already having to take into account in their forward planning. Both of these possible problems involve the government.

At the moment the government is interested in the sector and funds are available. However government interest can wane, policies can change and funds available now might not be available in even the near future, as those organisations offering social training to adults have discovered.

The other possible problem concerning government would arise if they become too interested in the sector. Everyone can see the potential contained within the sector and the danger would arise if the government saw the sector as a cheap way of making social provision and attempted take it over through regulation, which would mean the usual top down micro-management from the centre, which has failed in every other sector.

In addition to that, it does not take a great leap of imagination to envisage the Chancellor of the Exchequer sitting in the Treasury thinking that if the sector is providing some of their own funds, government can provide less.

Both scenarios would spell disaster for the sector and the work it does in the community.

The vital need for profitability

For these reasons alone it is imperative that all social enterprises should aim to make their enterprise side profitable enough to at least be able to finance its core social work. Not all social enterprises will be able to fully attain that goal, but even for those that don’t manage it, the extra income gained in the attempt will still allow them to at least shield their core work, should the conditions in which they operate change. The only way any enterprise will achieve that goal is to follow Keystone’s example: in both using best commercial practice and in seeking to form alliances wherever possible to further their objectives.

Focus on… Working in Partnership

B

rendan Moore made his personal dream a reality when he opened the Iceni Brewery in Ickburgh near Thetford, Norfolk in 1995.

With the perfect soil and conditions, East Anglian farmers grow some of the best malting barley in the world and the region has long been associated with fine beers.

East Anglian Brewers

Dealing with difficult commercial circumstances

T h e re we re a n u m b e r o f s m a l l breweries but the market was limited and competition was fierce. Publicans of free houses bought only one guest beer at a time, so it was simply the case that the first brewer who got their beer to the pub sold it, the others didn’t. In addition, publicans used the strength of their position to play off one small brewer against another, reducing the prices they paid and cutting the brewers’ already tight margins to the bone. There was also a suspicion that their suppliers were charging different brewers different prices for the same goods. In these conditions, it was difficult for small brewers to make a living and some did not survive.

Despite the competition between them, the brewers were on talking terms, even if they were sometimes a little aggressive towards each other. Realising that if things continued as they were, none of them would be able to make a decent income from their breweries, Brendan organised a meeting so that they could thrash out the problems they all faced.

What they discovered at the meeting was a revelation. Some publicans had actively misled them about the prices they supposedly paid different brewers for their beer, which had the effect of forcing prices even lower than they might otherwise have been. But the biggest shock came when they compared the prices that each was paying for their supplies. While some were paying around £270 per tonne for their malt, others were paying as much as £370, to the same maltsters for the same quantity.

With their margins already tight, the situation was untenable and they decided to form a loose association to tackle their suppliers about the price they paid for their supplies – and also to try to improve the price they were paid for their beer.

Just acting together didn’t change much

As a group they were able to negotiate even better prices for their supplies which improved their margins slightly, but the market was still tight and, even acting together, it proved impossible to do much to improve the on the prices they were paid for their beers.

They continued in much the same vein for the next two years, during which time

they were joined by more brewers keen to take advantage of the low prices they had negotiated with their suppliers: but the problem of a limited market remained and they still had to compete with each other for their slice of it.

Becoming a co-operative

Meanwhile, Tastes of Anglia had been promoting the eleven vineyards in the region, holding wine tastings and generally helping with marketing. Brendan approached them to see if they would also promote the breweries. Realising that all of the breweries would have to be members before Tastes of Anglia would help them, they decided to turn their loose association i n t o a f u l l y- f l e d g e d c o - o p e ra t i ve.

Approaching Business Link for advice, they were put in contact with Nicky Stevenson of The Guild in Norwich.

A wider European market discovered

Nicky advised and guided them through the process, and the co-operative was formally launched in 2002 with a grant of £24,000 from EEDA. As a group they began networking with other groups and established good, direct links with the malting barley farmers. They also established links with small brewers in Holland, Italy and Spain, as well as with British people brewing beer in France. If the market for small independent brewers in England was limited, there was no equivalent market in Europe at all and European brewers had created a market for themselves selling in markets and to local shops.

Stuart Evans of Uncle Stewart’s Brewery, one of the founding members, did some further research while on a trip to Italy. As a result, the co-operative decided to go down the same route as their European

counterparts. Consequently they opened shops at their breweries and started attending Farmers’ Markets, as well as selling to local and to farm shops: one brewer even opened a shop in a local garden centre. Slowly a new market for their beer emerged. Some brewers continued to serve the guest-beer market, others concentrated on selling direct to the public, while some did both.

Finding that the local flavour sells

The next big break came as a result of a meeting held between the brewers, the farmers and the maltsters. The cooperative was using enough malt between them to make it economically viable for their malting barley to be kept separately.

That meant that the barley could be traced from the field in which it was grown all the way to the bottle of beer made from it. That reinforced the local element in the beer they brewed and allowed them to tap into the trend for local produce at a time when more and more people were beginning to enjoy and seek out ‘Real Ale’.

As well as creating a new market for themselves, they were also creating jobs and passing on their skills to a new generation, some of whom have gone on to found their own breweries. As well as that, they were giving a boost to tourism in their areas, which in turn boosted the local economy creating more rural jobs.

What they have managed to achieve in a relatively short time is impressive. None of the brewers who make up the East Anglian Brewers co-operative are in any doubt that none of it would have been possible if they had not made the decision to become allies rather than competitors – and that would never have happened if they had not formed the co-operative.

InTouch

No 16 Autumn 2006

13

Resources unlimited For this section, we appreciate items of interest and resources of value to those working in the social enterprise field. Also, if you have any interesting news about your organisation, such as successes or new employees, let us know.

Contact Peter Durrant: E: humberstone@pop3. poptel.org.uk; T: 01223 262759.

News Credit Union current accounts Later this year members from nine credit unions will be offered a bank account, which will be run and promoted by the individual credit unions with the behind the scenes IT and administration being carried out by The Co-operative Bank.

In what is seen as a major step change in the development of credit unions, the bank account offers a debit card, which can be used in shops and to withdraw money from cash machines.

Although there will be no cheque books or overdrafts, accountholders will be able to set up standing orders and direct debits.

All of the nine pioneering CUs are in London, Yorkshire or Scotland except Voyager Credit Union – providing services to public transport employees across England and Wales. W: http://www.abcul.org/page/ news.cfm#316

shelf business models) designed to provide the information and guidance needed to establish successful co-operative b u s i n e s s e s ra n g i n g f ro m producer-run farmers’ markets, to charcoal burning enterprises and energy crop marketing.

Each of the franchise models has been created with a very specific business in mind, and covers everything from a detailed market overview, to deciding on an appropriate legal structure, dealing with finances, and devising a marketing strategy.

They are available to download free from: W: www. plunkettfranchisemodels.org.uk

Making recycling easier for businesses It is estimated that 75% of waste in landfill sites in the East of England comes from businesses, a trend which must be reversed if targets for climate change are to be achieved.

Remadeeast is developing a free to access, searchable,

Networks Each Friday at 11 a.m., Social Enterprise East of England is hosting Virtual Coffee Mornings.

You can find out more details on our website here. Join us using Skype (which is completely free) to discuss issues of importance to social enterprise, ranging from the big regional strategy stuff to the day-to-day running of a successful business. For more information W: www. seee.co.uk

Business Resources Plunkett Foundation models for rural co-ops The Plunkett Foundation has developed five ‘franchise models’ (in essence, off-the

14 InTouch

No 16 Autumn 2006

database of the regional waste and recycling sector. This will provide information on waste and recycling service providers with the aim of networking existing companies in the sector and giving information to businesses looking for outlets for recyclable materials. The initiative is also working closely with the regional materials exchange, East-Ex to ensure that materials with a re-use value can find a good home without the need for recycling.

For further information visit W: www.remadeeast.org or contact Jenny Deane. E: remadeeast@ukceed.org

Eastex: a new materials exchange for the Eastern Region Eastex provides organisations in the region with a forum through which wanted or available materials can be advertised and exchanged. It aims to assist users to identify free or cheaper sources of raw materials or equipment, reduce expenditure on waste disposal and improve their environmental impact by reducing waste to landfill.

Materials are added to the website every week. W: www. eastex.org.uk to search for materials. To add your required or surplus items, complete

a simple online registration form to your local exchange or contact your county manager.

Co n t a c t : A n n a Ma r t i n : T: 0 1 5 0 2 5 8 4 0 6 1 o r E : suffolk@eastex.org.uk

Community-owned village shop directory Community-owned village shop directory goes interactive … V i R S A’s d i r e c t o r y o f community-owned village shops is now available. The directory aims to share experiences, help others looking to set up a community-owned shop and to support existing shops. Find out more at W: www.virsa.org

RAISE toolkits Some very useful tool kits produced by the South East’s equivalent of COVER (i.e. the umbrella organisation for the voluntary sector in that part of the country) There are four presently – on Leadership, Representation, Governance and Equality. Find them at W: www.raise-networks. o rg . u k / i n f o r m / d s p c a t l i s t . cfm?iCatID=258

Business tips website For more small business tips try the excellent bytestart e-zine on W: http://www.bytestart.co.uk/

A “what enterprise?” booklet Decoda, a small organisation in East Sussex, have written a guide which attempts to cover the questions individuals and organisations ask in setting up a social enterprise. The booklet draws on their own experience and includes local examples.

The booklet is available via the website at W: www.decoda. org/SocEnt.htm either free as a download or £3 for the printed version.

Aspiring to business The Aspire Centre, Lowestoft’s premier conference and training establishment – is now open for business. Aspire is a brand new venture on the site of Denes High School, a Business & Enterprise College. The Centre aims to provide easily accessible

Resources unlimited facilities for local individuals and budding entrepreneurs.

Aspire offers a wide selection of office accommodation for hire, conference and IT facilities and a host of professional training courses. T: 01502 533520 or E: info@aspirecentre.co.uk W: www.aspirecentre.co.uk

Training and Learning ICT Hub: free events The ICT Hub can help you make your organisation’s website accessible. A For more information W: http:// www.ictconsortium.org.uk/ webaccessibility.htm or T: 0800 6524737

ICT hub: web accessibility event 29 November 2006, Cambridge A f re e o n e - d a y c o u r s e looking at how to create and maintain accessible websites.

For more information W: w w w. i c t h u b. o r g . u k / c m s / opencms/icthub/events/ web_accessibility_event4. html or T: Jeanette Teague, AbilityNet on 0800 269545 or E: enquiries@abilitynet.org.uk

Train to be a social enterprise adviser?

If you are an employee within a social enterprise and would like to provide peer to peer support to other organisations within the social economy….if you are a CVS and would like to train staff to become accredited social enterprise adviser’s please contact E: socialenter prisetraining@bl4bl.co.uk for more information about this opportunity.

Finance, Funding & Awards Big Lottery Community Buildings programme The Community Buildings programme will give communities the chance to improve their quality of life by funding buildings that are economically, socially and

environmentally sustainable.

The programme will pay for creating and improving facilities that offer a wide range of services and activities to a broad range of local people.

Closing date: 30 April 2007.

W: http://snipurl.com/w91s

WRAP behavioural change local fund for communities The Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), which aims to promote sustainable waste management, has announced that £500,000 of government funding is available to provide advice, information and grants, to support community projects aimed at changing behaviour and increasing participation in recycling and composting services. Grants of up to £50,000 will be available to support projects promoting community sector or local authority services through, for example, leaflets, newsletters, posters, events or more innovative communications. Funding for web based resources and local events kits will also be available.

Community groups and not-forprofit organisations are eligible for support. Applications for funding for community projects will be accepted until 20 October 2006.

W: http://snipurl.com/w92h

Tenders and Procurement Supply to Government More than 10,000 suppliers have registered on the supply2. gov.uk site, the first governmentsupported service of its kind in the UK to give businesses the opportunity to access lowervalue public sector contracts, typically under £100,000 in value, from central and local Government. W: http://www. supply2.gov.uk/

New tenders on Nearbuyou Are you a social enterprise looking to tender for contracts?

Nearbuyou – the national trading website managed by The Guild – has subscribed to

the new government portal for lower value contracts which are added to Nearbuyou daily.

No t y e t re g i s t e re d o n N e a r b u y o u ? W : w w w. nearbuyou.co.uk

Government sets out vision for partnership approach to public service delivery As part of the Government’s public service reform agenda, a range of proposals have been announced, designed to ensure that the work of the voluntary and community sector is expanded on and properly supported. The initiatives will be brought together in the autumn, through the publication of the Third Sector Public Service Delivery Action Plan. Read the Press Release at: W: http://snipurl.com/w92c

Jobs and Opportunities Age and Employment Network The mission of TAEN – The Age and Employment Network – is to promote an effective job market which works for people in mid and later life, for employers and for the economy.

W: www.taen.org.uk

Employing and serving disabled people

A new site from The Employers’ Forum on Disability aims to provide the tools needed to build a business case for employing disabled people and serving disabled customers.

The Realising Potential web site at W: www.realising-potential. org accompanies a publication of the same name.

Public Sector jobs The biggest range of Public Sector and Not-for-Profit jobs the web has to offer: W: www. jobsgopublic.com

Trainers required The Guild is always looking for trainers who are flexible, client-focused and who work creatively. The Guild works across the UK designing and delivering innovative and fun

training for challenging learners.

You should hold a training or teaching qualification or have significant experience. If you are interested, send your CV with a covering letter telling the Guild why you would be good to work with. E: services@the-guild. co.uk or write to: The Guild, Burlington Buildings, 11 Orford Place, Norwich, NR1 3RU.

Shaw Trust offers help • Would you like help in finding a job or training?

W: www.shaw-trust.org.uk/ page/2/16/ • A re y o u i n t e re s t e d i n employing more disabled people? W: www.shaw-trust. org.uk/page/3/53/

Governance hub: SAVO seeking e-tutors for Learning to Drive programme The ‘Learning to Drive’ elearning project has been established to develop and deliver an interactive, high quality and accessible trustees e-learning service. The project was made possible with funding received from the Governance Hub and will help trustees to acquire, develop and implement best governance practice. The programme will suit those new to trusteeship or looking to advance their skills, seeking through an accredited course or to trainers, facilitators, advisors, tutors, supporters and groups who want to improve their induction and support of trustees. SAVO are looking to recruit, support and develop e-tutors to assist in the programme. If you are interested contact Michelle Patmore on T: 01638 565888 or E: michelle.patmore@savo. co.uk Acknowledgements to organisations whose ezines and websites we have accessed to bring Resources Unlimited to you. In particular: ABCUL, CCORNN, Cooperatives UK, COVER, Plunkett Foundation, Raiser, SEC, SEN, Update

InTouch

No 16 Autumn 2006

15

New Kid on the Block screenreader.net is a new boy and it’s a bit out of the ordinary even as social firms go.

M

argaret and Roger WilsonHinds are blind people, former t e a c h e r s , w h o h ave b e e n in business since 1992. There business is computer software that makes the computer talk for those who can’t see to read what is on the screen. Their bold mission is to get their software to blind or partially-sighted people worldwide free to such users but paid for by blindfriendly organisations. Screenreader.net is a modern, lean e-commerce set-up, not for profit and run from their home in Peterborough.

Their talking software is called Thunder and there are currently between 100 and 150 downloads each day. So Thunder is already making a mighty impact on the lives of some disabled people.

But screenreader.net is, of course, a social firm; so high on the agenda is the aim of work opportunities for blind people. In this Global Economy, there is no room for geographical boundaries and so, not surprisingly, some of the first partners are based in The States, Poland and Nigeria. Such partners want to train their disabled colleagues to enjoy the software

and make progress into learning, work and some measure of financial independence.

“We are looking forward to a challenging business future”, says Roger.

“Screenreader.net is empowering people who can’t see to read and write and giving them employment opportunities almost regardless of their ability to pay or regardless of whether there is in place the kind of supported employment services there are here in the UK”. “We are very excited about the future but need a good deal of financial and business planning backing to make our business model stick.”

Roger and Margaret have cherished the dream of free access talking software for blind people for five years but the project was formally launched at the National Portrait Gallery in London on 27th July 2006. Over 70 people attended the launch, a blend of dignitaries, potential funders as well as blind computer users.

Peter White, the BBC’s Disability Correspondent, spoke of the value of the talking computer to people who could not see to read and write, and emphasised the fact that, throughout the world, most

blind people were on a low income. Roger went on to describe the talking computer as the modern Braille and stated that it was too important to be restricted to the few who could pay.

For further information on screenreader.net, please contact:

Roger Wilson-Hinds Screenreader.net Tel: 01733 234441 E: roger@screenreader.co.uk W: www.screenreader.net

Social Firms Eastern Region Social Firms seek to create good quality jobs for disabled people within supportive and successful businesses. Social Firms Eastern Region is working across the region to support these enterprises, as well as organizations aiming to become Social Firms, in conjunction with extensive resources offered by its national partner Social Firms UK (www.socialfirms.co.uk).

Annual General Meeting and Seminar Social Firms Eastern Region’s Annual General Meeting and Seminar is being held on 12th October at the Keystone Innovation Centre in Thetford. It starts at 10am and the morning sessions include presentations by key Social Firms in the region about sustainability, working with the private sector and social return on investment. After a networking lunch, Sheila Childerhouse, EEDA board member, will be the keynote speaker for the AGM.

16 InTouch

No 16 Autumn 2006

Contact Details If you would like to attend please contact Karen Anderson at karen.anderson@sfer.org.uk or call Mark Daly on 01737 764021.