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Ideas into Action is a programme that supports people from a refugee background who live in the UK to develop their own social enterprises and non-profits. Delivered by Result CIC, TERN (The Entrepreneurial Refugee Network) and Social Enterprise UK (SEUK) – Ideas into Action provides specialist support including workshops, professional coaching, business, marketing and fundraising information and skills training, as well as public-facing events. Ten refugee entrepreneurs took part in this first programme. 100% say that they would highly recommend it to others, and 100% say that the programme helped them get closer to achieving their professional goals. Now, we're looking for participants for Ideas into Action's next programme, starting in October. Ideas into Action will take place from October 2022 to the end of June 2023 and is open to refugees and people from a refugee background in the UK who are motivated to start and run a successful social enterprise, charity or other not-for-profit organisation which benefits the community and/or the environment, in the UK or abroad. Participants will be given comprehensive support based around a series of workshops covering topics such as starting a business, crowdfunding and pitching as well as individual coaching sessions with experts. SEUK will be hosting a specialist workshop on building your contacts and networks to help participants The deadline to apply is 7pm on 21 September Click here to apply and find out more You can also hear from Ideas into Action participants themselves here.You can apply directly, online or via a word document, here. Most of the programme will be online but we hope to have a face-to-face start event, a face-to-face workshop in February 2023 and a face-to-face graduation event in June 2023. All these events will take place either in London or Manchester (you will be informed of the final location if you join the programme). Ideas into Action is funded by the National Lottery Community Fund

Norwich, Sheffield and Plymouth have been awarded formal accreditation as Social Enterprise Places by Social Enterprise UK for their commitment to developing and supporting social enterprises to thrive. Social Enterprise Places are hotspots of social enterprise activity where these businesses are collectively working to make their area a fairer, greener and more inclusive place to live and do businesses. Since being named the country’s first Social Enterprise City in 2013, Plymouth has seen millions of pounds worth of investment into the city’s social economy and is home to around 200 social enterprises which employ around 9,100 people and which bring in up to £580 million into the economy each year.[1] Norwich contains around 53 social enterprises with a combined turnover of £107 million employing 2,714 people and Sheffield is a city with long history of social enterprise activity with the region being home to 226 social enterprises operating in sectors ranging from tech and manufacturing to community farms, cafes, and even renewable energy projects. All three cities proved not only the progress they have already made on establishing themselves as hubs for social enterprise, but a commitment to build on their achievements. Each new accredited place had to set out a three-year plan for the future of social enterprise in their area. The plans contain a series of specific aims and ambitions to support and sustain the structure and function of the Social Enterprise Place as well as detailed plans and actions to boost each area’s social enterprise community. These plans range from creating programmes to grow markets for social enterprises through engaging with the wider private sector to working with universities to provide social enterprise education and putting on public facing awareness raising campaigns.  Commenting on the accreditation, Peter Holbrook Chief Executive of Social Enterprise UK said: “Each of these three cities has a strong, dynamic social enterprise community. We heartily congratulate them on gaining accredited Social Enterprise Place status, showing their commitment to unlocking the potential of social enterprise. “Sheffield, Norwich and Plymouth are showing the difference social enterprises can make in local communities. As the cost-of-living crisis begins to bite and faced with the fallout of the pandemic now is the time to grow and invest in businesses which are reducing inequalities, creating jobs, and working to protect the environment. There can be no meaningful levelling-up without investment in social enterprise. “These cities are putting social enterprise at the heart of regional development and we look forward to seeing social enterprises continue to grow and flourish in these areas.” Find out more about Social Enterprise Places here [1] https://plymsocent.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Report-Final.pdf

The UK Social Enterprise Awards recognise the nation’s leading social enterprises shining a spotlight on the breadth and diversity of the social enterprise movement. From start-ups to multi-million-pound turnover businesses, health and social care organisations to cutting edge consumer-focused businesses, we’re proud to announce the 2022 shortlist. Congratulations to everyone who has been shortlisted! The winners will be announced at a gala event on 8 December at London's iconic Roundhouse. UK Social Enterprise of the Year Sponsored by Keegan and Pennykid The overall award for a social enterprise that has a clear vision, excellence in impact, and that has demonstrated and promoted social enterprise beyond the sector. auticon Change Please CIC Corps Security Hey Girls CIC London Early Years Foundation Stand4 Socks The Women’s Organisation Emmaus South Wales Habitat for Humanity Ireland (Habitat ReStore) One to Watch Sponsored by GLL The One to Watch Award is for a start-up social enterprise. Key to winning this award is an ability to clearly articulate their future vision and how they are going to achieve it. ChangeXtra Growing for Good CIC Growing Resilience CIC Serious Trampoline Menter Ty’n Llan Harry’s Place CIC Coffee Saints (Grassmarket Community Project) Prove It: Social Impact Sponsored by Linklaters For a social enterprise that can truly demonstrate and communicate their impact with their stakeholders. Breadwinners Cockpit Khushi Kantha (Happy Blanket) CIC London Development Trust The Women’s Organisation  Down to Earth  Buy Social Market Builder Sponsored by Amey For a social enterprise, public sector body or private sector organisation that has demonstrably made efforts within its own organisation and remit to create more opportunities to buy from social enterprises. CBRE Global Workplace Solutions UK John Sisk & Son Limited Johnson & Johnson Sodexo Willmott Dixon Construction Social Supermarket Social Investment Deal of the Year Sponsored by Big Society Capital For an organisation that has been part of a great investment deal in the last 12 months that has helped the social enterprise to grow or the movement as a whole to develop and flourish. GMCVO and Pinc College Big Issue Invest and Meanwhile Space NatWest Social & Community Capital and Northumbria Youth Action Bridges Outcomes Partnership and Refugee Better Outcomes Partnership Resonance and Nacro Health and Social Care Social Enterprise Sponsored by Johnson & Johnson For a social enterprise in the health and social care sector with excellent vision and strategic direction, clear leadership and clear evidenced social, environmental and community impact. Care Opinion Forward Carers CIC Innovating Minds CIC Nickel Support CIC PPL  Lingo Flamingo Consumer Facing Social Enterprise Sponsored by eBay for Change For a social enterprise that delivers a retail product or service to the general public. Acorn Early Years Change Please CIC Emmaus South Wales Sofab Sports CIC Toast Ale weheartfamily, ltd Education, Training and Jobs Sponsored by Corps Security For a social enterprise in the education, training or employment sectors that can demonstrate excellence in vision and strategic direction, and clearly evidence their social, environmental and community impact. Acorn Early Years Central YMCA Change Please CIC Cockpit The Women’s Organisation Environmental Social Enterprise Sponsored by Landmarc For a social enterprise in the green and environmental sector with a clear evidenced environmental impact. Gather Goldfinger Green Machine Computers JUST ONE Tree Low Carbon Hub Groundwork North Wales Woodrecyclability Social Enterprise Building Diversity, Inclusion, Equity & Justice Sponsored by PwC Social justice is fundamental to the social enterprise movement. This category is open to all social enterprises who are addressing issues around diversity, inclusion and equity. auticon Generation Success Happy Smiles Training CIC RainbowBiz CIC The Women’s Organisation The Community Impact Initiative Social Enterprise Women’s Champion Sponsored by ISG For a woman working in the senior leadership team of a social enterprise who represents excellence in her field of work. Lorraine Copes – Be Inclusive Hospitality CIC Kerrine Bryan – Butterfly Books Limited Annie Warburton – Cockpit Celia Hodson – Hey Girls CIC Jo Summers – P3 Charity Jo McGrath – Sector3 Ellenor McIntosh – Twipes Limited  Karen Balmer – Groundwork North Wales Catherine Jones – Grassmarket Community Project Jayne Taggart – Enterprise Pathway  International Impact Sponsored by Zurich Insurance Group For a social enterprise working internationally, and which are having a big impact in their field. This award is open to UK-based organisations only with existing international operations. Change Please CIC Ninety CIC Origin Africa Primary Care International The Washing Machine Project  Place Based Social Enterprise Sponsored by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation This award is for a place based social enterprise that trades for the benefit of their community. Friends of Stretford Public Hall Goldfinger Iridescent Ideas CIC Low Carbon Hub People Place and Participation Ltd (Flo’s – the Place in the Park) Galeri Caernarfon Cyf  Social Enterprise Team of the Year The Ingenuity Programme This category acknowledges those teams which have demonstrated the strength, passion and resilience which is so characteristic of the social enterprise sector. Cockpit Just Trading Scotland Lendology CIC (Trading name of Wessex Resolutions CIC) Radiant Cleaners Women’s Work Lab  Cardiff Cycle Workshop Tech for Good Sponsored by Fidelity International For a social enterprise that uses technology to achieve social impact. Care Opinion First Step Trust Hey Girls CIC IDEMS International Smart Money Cymru Community Bank Find out more about the UK Social Enterprise Awards here We are pleased to be working with Cwmpas, Social Enterprise Northern Ireland and Social Enterprise Scotland to deliver the Awards. Awards Sponsors

By Dietmar Harteveld - Chief Procurement Officer at Siemens UK Technology companies make a big difference to millions of people, because the products we develop - from security systems to trains, leveraging data sources at university campuses and even household appliances - directly impact on people’s everyday lives. Doing business in a sustainable way is crucial to us, and by creating more energy-efficient products and services, we can not only save our customers money, but enable them to reduce their carbon footprint, too. At Siemens UK we know that there is much more we can do to work towards our sustainability goals by working closely with partners across our supply chains; this is why we are proud to be supporting the Social Value 2032 programme. Our work on social value is being led by the Supply Chain Management team, and every member of the team is playing a pivotal role. In a company as large and multi-faceted as Siemens, we know that we can have massive impact if we put our efforts in the right places – that’s why in Supply Chain Management, we know we need to act now. As a function, we have the potential to make huge positive impact on society and the world around us, just by changing the way we work. At Siemens, we deployed the DEGREE framework (De-carbonization, Ethics, Governance, Resource efficiency, Equity and Employability) across the whole of the organisation back in 2021 as a way to approach sustainability. This umbrella framework gives the different parts of the business the freedom to apply principles of sustainability and social value in ways that are appropriate to their operations and location, while all working together towards a common framework. By partnering with Social Enterprise UK, Siemens has already introduced around 65 Social Enterprises into our supply chain and had a positive impact on over 2,000 lives in the UK and internationally. Working with such agile organisations has also brought about innovation, commercial savings (over 10%) and helped Siemens win new business, all while still delivering quality and price. It’s also proving highly motivating for our team: Tony Saleh, our Supply Chain Sustainability Lead, has been working in Procurement for 30 years but tells me this is the best job he’s ever had, and most members of the team are actively driving social value in each of their commodities. It has created an appetite to influence our European colleagues to onboard social enterprises. One of our targets is to help improve the lives of at least 14,000 people, the equivalent number to our Siemens UK workforce. We're excited at the world of possibilities available to do more with our purchasing spend, which totals £2billion across our UK businesses, and over 10,000 suppliers,.Engagement with social enterprises has not stopped at the door of Siemens; thanks to our influence, many of our strategic suppliers are now including social enterprises as part of their supply chain, too. After hearing about our engagement with Change Please, the coffee provider, our Tier 1 Facilities Management Provider, EMCOR, have also adopted Change Please to roll out across their client base. So, I think at Siemens UK, we’re providing a good example of what large companies can achieve in social value. We’re working to embed social enterprises across the supply chain and ensure that making decisions with sustainability in mind becomes business as usual. By building on and strengthening our supplier relationships, we are making a big impact on our employees, our company, and the world around us. You can find out more about the Social Value 2032 programme here

By Andrew O'Brien - Director of External Affairs at Social Enterprise UK After several years of consultation and new legislation meandering its way through Parliament, HM Government has launched a public consultation on proposals to distribute nearly £800m from reclaimed dormant assets in England. The last round of dormant assets helped to create Big Society Capital and lay the platform for the social investment market. We can debate the pros and cons of the approaches taken over the past decade but what is undeniable is that targeting investment at social enterprises was the right thing to do. The consultation lasts until 9th October and Social Enterprise UK will be responding on behalf of the social enterprise sector. Delivering the vision of the Adebowale Commission on Social Investment One of the questions in the consultation is whether social investment should remain as one of the causes eligible for dormant assets. Social Enterprise UK’s view is categorically yes, that social investment should be at the core of the next tranche of dormant assets. However, it must be used to reform and improve the social investment market. Readers may be aware that earlier this year our Chair, Lord Victor Adebowale, concluded a two-year independent commission into the future of social investment. The Commission found that whilst social investment had helped some social enterprises, it had not fulfilled its potential due to a lack of flexible capital which could be deployed to provide “enterprise-centric” finance. It also found geographical and racial inequalities in the distribution of social investment. The Commission made several recommendations to address these challenges including the creation of a £50m black-led social investment fund to tackle inequalities faced by black-led social enterprises, putting more investment into place-led infrastructure and creating a “Frontiers Fund” to provide capital to give flexible finance into social enterprises. If we get things right, the Commission estimated that we could help thousands of social enterprises and generate hundreds of thousands of jobs across the country, particularly in the poorest areas. The report has received widespread support from social enterprises, social investors and experts. A Community Enterprise Growth Plan has been developed by SEUK and other partners which builds on the Adebowale Commission proposals and outlines how dormant assets could be used to make social investment work better. We will be using the consultation to call on the government to invest in that plan and deliver the recommendations of the Adebowale Commission.   Levelling up our communities Alongside backing social enterprises as businesses, we also need to ensure that we revitalise our communities and high streets so that they are vibrant places for social enterprises to grow. One of the proposals in the consultation is the creation of a “Community Wealth Fund”. This fund would distribute locally administered pots of money which would be used to provide patient funding for social infrastructure – the community spaces and organisations that we depend upon and bring us together. This proposal is being championed by the Community Wealth Fund Alliance which includes Social Enterprise UK. Increasingly, this social infrastructure is run by social enterprises. There are great examples across the country from Social Adventures in Salford which runs a community centre, garden centre and other important services to the Onion Collective in Watchet, Somerset which has built a new cultural centre to revitalise the area. Social enterprises are finding ways to maintain and develop local infrastructure through a combination of community engagement and trade. Community Wealth Funds would provide a way to support the development of new and existing community-based social enterprises. Get involved As Matt Leach of Local Trust and Seb Elsworth of Access Foundation have written, the Community Enterprise Growth Plan and Community Wealth Funds are complimentary policies. Both these ideas would help to grow and support social enterprise. Social Enterprise UK will be putting together a template response that members can send to the consultation themselves on these proposals, but if you’d like to find out more, you can email me (andrew.obrien@socialenterprise.org.uk) for more information or to share your views. You can also get in touch with your local MP to give them your views and ask them to support these policies.

26 July 2022 Social Enterprise UK celebrated its 20th anniversary at a special event held at the House of Lords terrace in the Palace of Westminster last Monday, on one of the hottest days of the year. It was a chance to look back and celebrate what SEUK and its members have achieved together over the last two decades and an opportunity to look forward to the future. Since being formed as the Social Enterprise Coalition, 20 years ago, SEUK has been a strong voice and champion for social enterprise in the UK, raising awareness of social enterprise and lobbying for change. SEUK was instrumental in the passing of the Social Value Act, the establishment of the Community Interest Community as a legal structure; and making social investment more accessible to social enterprises through the creation of Big Society Capital and, more recently, the Access Foundation. Over the years our ‘Buy Social’ work has grown from a campaign encouraging social enterprises to buy from each other - to one which is helping shape the supply chains of some of the UK’s biggest businesses through the Buy Social Corporate Challenge – an initiative which now has 30 corporate partners, and which has directed millions of pounds worth of spend towards social enterprises. SEUK's public-facing Buy Social campaigns have raised awareness of social enterprise and spread the word about buying from social enterprises to consumers.  As well as marking some of SEUK’s achievements over the last 20 years SEUK’s two former chairs, Baroness Glenys Thornton and Claire Dove CBE, shared their reflections of their time at the organisation and how it, and social enterprise, has grown and developed. Our current chair, Lord Victor Adebowale CBE set out the critical role social enterprise needs to play in the future of the economy and how SEUK, as the champion for the social enterprise movement, needs to ensure that those who either do not know what a social enterprise is or who do not care understand the that the social enterprise movement is a real catalyst for positive change. Lord Adebowale commented: “We’ve got to make them understand that if they’re interested in the future of the country, in fact the future of the planet, it’s social enterprise that they need to be interested in. They’re looking for solutions and we’re it” The need for social enterprises to be part of the climate change solution was apparent to everyone gathered in the room, as the outside temperature hit just under 40 degrees. As well as hearing from our Chair, former Chairs and Chief Executive SEUK members present voted on a resolution that enables SEUK to continue to invest in political activity. This resolution was passed unanimously by a quorate number of SEUK members. This will help us continue to champion and push for policy change that benefits social enterprise and position social enterprises as a fundamental part of an inclusive and sustainable economy. We know that the extreme temperatures made it impossible for many people to attend but we would like to thank everyone who was able to join us in Westminster and celebrate the last 20 years. We’d also like to extend our thanks to all our members, partners and supporters who have been instrumental in supporting our work over the years. Social Enterprise UK is nothing without its members and none of our achievements would have been possible without you. We look forward to working with you as we move forward and continue to make the case as to why social enterprise represents business at its best.

By Andrew O'Brien - Director of External Affairs at Social Enterprise UK Given all the uncertainty in Westminster these days, social enterprises would be forgiven for missing the Procurement Bill which is currently making its way through the House of Lords. The Procurement Bill seeks to create a new legal framework for procurement in the UK following our exit from the European Union. The Bill is long and complex, but at its core is the idea of creating greater flexibility for the UK in how it spends public money. Welcome changes For social enterprises, the Bill has several important changes. Firstly, the procurement system is going to move away from “Most Economically Advantageous Tender” to “Most Advantageous Tender”. At a basic level, this means that procurement decisions can be based on more than just price. This is a positive move in the right direction. Ultimately, the goal of any public sector procurement is to make society and our planet better. Price is a factor, but not the only factor. The shift away from narrow consideration on price towards a broader range of factors is a vindication for the years of campaigning by the social enterprise sector and other organisations which have pointed out the flaws in the previous system. There is also a requirement for public sector organisations to consider breaking out contracts into lots. We hear regularly from smaller social enterprises that they struggle to bid for contracts because they are too big. One of the lessons learnt from the collapse of Carillion was the need to spread risk more evenly throughout the system rather than contracts being dominated by one or two large providers. Cuts to procurement teams mean that this provision may still struggle to be used but encouraging breaking up contracts into smaller chunks should help increase the diversity of suppliers, including social enterprises. The Bill will also make market engagement before a contract is put out to tender easier by clarifying that this engagement is legal and specifying the process. Again, this is a welcome move as most social enterprises want to work in partnership, and we know that the best services are designed in collaboration with experts and service users. Where is social value? The biggest area of concern in this Bill is the absence of any reference to social value. Despite central government creating its own Social Value Model and championing social value across the public sector over the past few years, there are no references to social value in the Bill itself. Ministers have said that the duty to “maximise public benefit” covers social value and the National Procurement Policy Statement (guidance which lays out the government’s approach to procurement) does include references to social value, but this is far from ideal. Public benefit itself is not a term used regularly in procurement, it is something from charity law. Social value, by contrast, is clearly defined in law and is far better understood by public bodies given the ten years that have elapsed since the Social Value Act was passed by Parliament. Importantly, we need to give certainty and clarity to public sector bodies about what it is expected of them. A hokey-cokey where social value is in one minute and then out the next is not conducive to long term planning and engagement. Our Social Value 2032 programme, in partnership with Jacobs, PwC, Siemens, Shaw Trust and Suez recycling and recovery UK has found that there are huge opportunities to maximise the impact of public spending through social value. There is a £56bn “social value gap” that we need to close and this Bill will not help to address this. We have been working with members of the House of Lords from across all parties to table amendments to put social value into the Bill and these have received widespread support. Unfortunately, Minister’s are not budging. We will keep campaigning to set this right and hopefully fresh leadership will provide a renewed focus on how we maximise public money through greater use of social value. Next steps Social value is not the only area that we are working on, and we have worked with peers to put down amendments to encourage “open book accounting”, so that there is greater transparency on profits and surpluses in public sector contracting, as well as putting a duty on public bodies to consider the impact of their decisions on the social enterprise sector and SMEs so that we have a range of suppliers in the future. We will keep pushing for a procurement system which maximises social, economic and environmental impact and enables social enterprises to win contracts given the excellent track record of our sector. The Bill will be coming back to the House of Lords in September after the summer recess for further discussion of amendments and SEUK will keep working with peers to improve the Bill. Once it has passed through the House of Lords it will turn to the House of Commons and we can expect the Bill to be passed into law some time in early 2023. We’ll keep social enterprises updated about the passage of the Bill as it makes it way through Parliament.   If you have any question or would like to find out more about the Bill, feel free to email me at andrew.obrien@socialenterprise.org.uk.

7 July 2022 Statement from Peter Holbrook CBE, Chief Executive Officer, Social Enterprise UK “The Prime Minister has resigned and we will now see a contest to replace him.” “The country faces significant challenges from the cost-of-living crisis to the climate emergency. We need the next Prime Minister to be someone who understands that we cannot go on with business as usual. We need bold leadership if we are going to get Britain back on track.” “The present situation has shown the importance of integrity and why all our institutions, not just our politics, need to be governed with a sense of social responsibility. Government and business must put people and planet first.” “Social enterprises have a huge role to play in our future. There is no route to levelling up and bringing prosperity to all parts of our country that does not involve growing the social enterprise sector.” “SEUK will work with all Conservative leadership candidates to help them to understand the potential of our sector and we look forward to working with the next Prime Minister.”