BSSEC » Social enterprise campaigns & issues

Jericho wins prestigious Centre for Social Justice award

September 21, 2020

We would like to congratulate everyone at Jericho on this news, just in… Leading Birmingham-based social enterprise Jericho has been awarded the coveted Work and Welfare award by the highly regarded Think Tank, the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ). The award took place as part of this

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New social investment support programme for social enterprises & third sector

September 03, 2020

Through its Social Investment Catalyst Programme the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH) is offering six free online masterclasses between 10th September and 19th November. The sessions will include a variety of expert keynote speakers from the VCSE sector across the Midl

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BECo — the social enterprise that wants employers to steal its staff

September 01, 2020

Divine chocolate. Belu water. The Big Issue. A comparatively small number of social enterprises are operating at the scale of national manufacturers. And note that I do call them manufacturers and not ‘brands’ — I mean companies that make things, not brands that purs

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BVSC state of the sector survey has never been more important

August 25, 2020

UPDATE 09/09/20: BVSC’s state of the sector ends on Friday 11th September Further to this post, this is a reminder to say that BVSC’s ‘state of the sector’ survey has never been more important. This year the survey has been completely redesigned to help gauge t

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Wales sets out plan to put social enterprise at the heart of Welsh economy and society

July 15, 2020

Social enterprises, support organisations and the Welsh government have worked together to produce a bold and ambitious vision for the sector in Wales. Transforming Wales through Social Enterprise, published by Wales Co-operative Centre, significantly raises the bar in terms of sector

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WiSE Wednesday — free webinar from iSE: Levering Localism with Kevin Davis, CEO The Vine Trust

July 05, 2020

The next of iSE’s WiSE Wednesday free webinars takes place on Wednesday 8 July at 10am and is given by Kevin Davis, CEO of The Vine Trust and a Black Country LEP Board Member. He will be talking about Levering Localism. Kevin Davis will pose the que

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Build back better — Bill Grimsey report on the future of town and city centres post-Covid-19

June 23, 2020

Bill Grimsey has spent a lifetime at the top of retailing in the UK, Hong Kong and South Africa, during which time he regarded it as his mission ‘to clone every town in the UK with the same brands’. And he did, and in the process, as he readily acknowledges, he put paid to

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WiSE Wednesday #5 — Finance & funding your enterprise: Matt Smith, chief executive The Key Fund

June 19, 2020

WiSE Wednesday – FINANCE & FUNDING YOUR ENTERPRISE with Matt Smith, CEO of The Key Fund iSE CIC would like to welcome you to hear expert speaker, Matt Smith, CEO, The Key Fund, discussing enterprise finance and funding options in the fifth of a special series of social enterp

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Locality report calls for communities to be at the heart of recovery planning

June 16, 2020

In a recent post we wrote about a Covid-19 Social Economy Update published jointly by BSSEC, iSE and Birmingham Social Enterprise City. We have been using this briefing paper to inform and influence key policy-makers and decision-makers — including Ministers — a

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Finance Bill could result in scrapping of Social Investment Tax Relief

June 15, 2020

Just when you thought that there was no news other than Covid-19 something comes along that sneaks under the radar. I’m indebted to David Alcock at Anthony Collins Solicitors for flagging this up in his LinkedIn feed — I would have missed it otherwise. If passed

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iSE celebrates 20th anniversary

June 03, 2020

During June 2020 iSE celebrates its 20th anniversary. BSSEC and iSE have worked together for almost the entirety of that time and for a good part of it Sarah has also served as chair of BSSEC and one of its Directors. I think many will agree that without the efforts of Sarah and her v

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Jericho Foundation’s social enterprises — adapting for a full Covid-safe re-opening

June 01, 2020

After nearly two months of lockdown, BSSEC member Jericho Foundation is starting to re-open its social enterprises, strictly adhering to the latest government guidance. Each business will be operating somewhat differently to ensure that it is Covid-safe. We thought you might find

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New report examines a community-based micro-enterprise model in adult social care

May 22, 2020

The Covid-19 crisis has shone a spotlight on the social care sector — on every aspect, from sessional home care support to the most expensive residential nursing care and everything in between. The shrill outrage we are currently hearing from many politicians about social care b

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BVSC offers free financial advice & support for smaller charities and social enterprises in Birmingham

May 07, 2020

BVSC has just announced that it is making available free advice and support on financial resilience for the city’s smaller charities and social enterprises that have been hit hard by the coronavirus crisis. It is targeting organisations with a turnover below £100,000 a year.

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Government announces ‘top-up to local business grant funds scheme’

May 04, 2020

Further to this post, the briefing paper we recently posted online (Covid-19 Social Economy Update) refers to eligibility criteria for the government’s Small Business Grant Fund. On p.4 (point [a]), we explain that the key eligibility mechanism for the Small Business Grant Fund

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Social economy needs to help plan for economic, social and community recovery — read our briefing paper

April 30, 2020

In a spirit of contributing to a wider debate about how we can begin to move beyond the immediate health crisis and plan for economic, social and community recovery BSSEC and the Birmingham Social Enterprise City steering group have produced a briefing paper that we hop

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How one social enterprise is planning to be part of the post-virus recovery

April 28, 2020

Martin Hogg, founder and chief executive of Citizen Coaching, the counselling social enterprise, has tried various approaches over recent years to grow and scale-up the business. ‘We’ve always reinvested in the business,’ he says, ‘but this alone was never enou

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Roots HR: trading surplus will extend free advice line for smaller SEs during Covid-19

April 23, 2020

BSSEC member Roots HR CIC, the specialist provider of HR support for the social sector, is using its trading surpluses to extend its free HR advice line services for the smallest social sector employers. Social sector employers with income of under £50k pa can now receive up to one ho

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Human Lending Library launches in Birmingham

April 06, 2020

Following in the footsteps of London, Manchester and New York, iSE is delighted to be working with charity Expert Impact to bring the Human Lending Library to Birmingham. What is the Human Lending Library? The Human Lending Library connects some of the world’s most succ

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The social entrepreneur — thinking aloud… #1

April 03, 2020

This just in from Sarah Crawley at iSE — the first in a series of posts reflecting on the lessons she is learning as she helps her own and other social enterprises navigate these unprecedented times… Read on. You may find something you can take heart from. * * * As a passi

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BIRMINGHAM & SOLIHULL SOCIAL ECONOMY CONSORTIUM C.I.C., trading as BSSEC. A community interest company registered in England and Wales with company no. 07992674. Registered office: c/o Anthony Collins Solicitors LLP, 134 Edmund Street, Birmingham B3 2ES | All rights reserved | Copyright 2013-BSSEC | Created by Citizen Click