HSSE Newsletter June 2010
Big Society, Big Issue
This week as Nick Hurd is confirmed as social enterprise minister for our new government I wonder whether we’ll really notice the difference.
As a personal supporter of social enterprise Nick is keen to back Conservative plans for a Big Society wholesale bank. This would be funded from dormant bank accounts but it would be named the Big Society Bank. Its purpose would have a strong focus on providing funds to intermediary bodies ‘with a track record of supporting and growing social enterprise’.
It is hoped that the social investment bank would not just be about public services but that the private sector would get behind it as part of their CSR programmes in terms of procurement and investment. Hurd added, ‘We want to try and create the conditions for social enterprises to help mobilise communities and galvanise more social action’.
This all sounds great but Labour banged a similar drum in their recent manifesto 2010 claiming they ‘would provide greater support for third sector organisations to deliver public services and plough £75m into a social investment bank’. This too was from the £935m treasure chest discovered through the Dormant Bank and Building Society Act 2008 which enables government to raid inactive bank accounts that have been sleeping for 15 years or more.
As I sit and ponder what I’d do with a possible £75m, my mind turns to the recent gleeful scenes in the garden of number 10 and I mull over this new government. Will they be able to embrace their diversity and come up with some innovative solutions of their own to get us out of this mess and maybe even realise the value and potential of our social entrepreneurs?
Conroy Williams
Student Profile - Kayembe Mbombo
The Hampshire School for Social Entrepreneurs is helping me to take forward my ideas in a structured way. I am completely driven by my idea, but I need the School to help me bring it alive and make it happen.
Before I became a student at the School, I was starting to give up and think it was an impossible dream. I have realised now that I can do things to help my country and my people wherever I am in the world.
My burgeoning social enterprise is to create a Congolese soap opera set in Portsmouth. It aims to be a quality production reflecting the everyday concerns and problems of the Congolese diaspora, which will be used as a social improvement and educational tool. The programme can be shown throughout Western Europe, and even back in the Congo.
I am so privileged to have been given this opportunity - it has been a turning point in my life!
Shine UnConference
A chance to Shine at the Unconference in London was awesome. Doug Richards a former dragon was speaking when I arrived and I just managed to get the last of his talk. He emphasised the importance of making social enterprises profitable businesses as government funding could not be relied upon, with which I strongly agree.
He also spoke about the importance of social media as a springboard for the future. For many of us more mature folk it may seem a little daunting; however it is still in its early stages and a prime time for us to learn as five years from now it will be massive. So twittering and a profitable website are new goals for me.
The interaction between passion and purpose was striking at the event. I attended two UnLtd workshops on money which were also very insightful. We were encouraged to put figures on the sources of future income and identify avenues that would be good to target.
As a result, two things happened - the first was I came up with extra ways to earn income, one of which helps Charities raise money in a very simple way: the second thing was being asked to write down potential figures gave me a clear knowledge of where to target first and the most profitable way to do so.
I also sat in a speed promoting session where a group of youthful budding entrepreneurs pitched their ideas, and the visions they had for their communities was great; the world can only be a better place with these young types of inspiration. Then finally it was my turn to talk about my project and by now I'd had plenty of practice!
It went well and the feedback from one lady was that I was the most inspiring speaker that she'd listened to around the kitchen table that afternoon and that she saw me as the super nanny of the debt crisis! Wow not bad for a first talk, I came alive with enthusiasm and with a new taste and hunger to launch out into the big wide world.
Ann Carver
Witness Session - Who Made Your Pants?
HSSE students had more than a flash of inspiration when they visted Who Made Your Pants? in Southampton. WMYP is a worker co-operative empowering marginalised women by offering them flexible employment, education and a social and community space.
Becky John set up the company as an alternative to ’sweat shop’ clothes production. She gave us a tour of the project and enlightened us about the realities of real 'social enterprise'.
The pants are great, and the business model is a good one. Projects like Becky's need investment and support to reach the level where they can break even and become sustainable!
Watch the video below
Witness sessions like these are an integral part of the school’s approach to learning, and give the students opportunities to meet and talk with experienced social entrepreneurs.
