Social enterprise
The social enterprise approach is being recognised by
the Government as a way forward for voluntary and community
sector (VCS) organisations. Some children's trusts also see
social enterprise models as a means of taking forward
services children, young people and
families' within the Every Child Matters (ECM) framework.
However, a VCS Engage commissioned study:
'Applying social
enterprise approaches to services for children, young people and
families’, has revealed that many VCS
organisations do not have a full understanding about social
enterprise and there are various assumptions and misconceptions
about social enterprise within the sector.
One of the key roles of VCS Engage is to
give VCS organisations the information to allow them to make
important choices about their organisations and how they might move
forward.
One of the options VCS Engage has explored on
behalf of VCS organisations is social enterprise - a method of
operation which allows VCS organisations to undertake profit making
activities, providing those profits are ploughed back into the
organisation's social and community activities.
Our work
VCS Engage recognises that the social
enterprise approach may not suit everyone, but to assist with
making those informed choices, VCS Engage has developed a range of
initiatives to help VCS organisations gain a better understanding
about social enterprise and it’s role in delivering services for
children, young people and families.
The publication 'Rising to the challenge'
has been produced as part of the VCS Engage Programme. Written by
the Family and Parenting Institute (FPI) with support from the
Social Enterprise Coalition, this publication explains what social
enterprises are, and uses detailed case studies to illustrate how
social enterprises operating in the children, young people and
families market are fulfilling the requirements of the Every Child
Matters agenda.
The publication was launched
at the VCS Engage national conference; ‘social
enterprise – delivering services for children, young people and
families’ in central London on November 15. The
event showcased examples of social enterprise already at work
within the VCS and considered how adopting this approach could
offer significant advantages for VCS service providers.
Delegates heard keynote addresses from
Kevin Brannan, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department
for Children, Schools and Families, as well as representatives from
local government and the Social Enterprise Coalition. A range of
seminars and interactive workshops provided helpful advice and top
tips for developing social enterprise solutions.
Feedback from the day so far shows
that the event was of great value to those who attended. If you
missed out on attending the conference, you can view some
of the presentations here.
VCS Engage is also running a pilot
one-to-one business development support
scheme with five voluntary and community sector
organisations working with children, young people and families.
Participants will work with a business support adviser, to help
them assess how the social enterprise approach could work for their
organisation.
VCS Engage will deliver a report supplying
feedback from the pilots and outlining recommendations for the
development of a wider business development support programme.
Resources
VCS Engage has also created a gateway to much of the
information available on the internet for social
enterprises. Twenty summaries have been written,
each with a list of useful links to various aspects of
business planning skills for those setting up social
businesses. Click here to access our comprehensive signposting
page.
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