Hmmm. For once I haven’t got much to say. It’s been that sort of week. Because I’ve not got anything else to write here, I’m going to use (abuse?) this space to ask if anyone knows a good roofer in Peckham? (We’ve got water dripping down a cavity wall).
Anyway, here’s this week’s news:
- We interviewed Kresse Wesling of Elvis and Kresse about her experiences as a social entrepreneur: “We hope that the sector is about to snowball and become so vast and diverse that it takes over, that it becomes business as usual, that no other way of working is acceptable.”
- If you are aged over 19 and not in work, SSE Cornwall is offering a free ‘Be Your Own Boss‘ social enterprise programme.
- If you fancy tickling the ivories, Jamie Culham is giving away a grand piano to a school, charity, youth organisation, community centre or choir.
- Huge congratulations to Sylvia and the team at SSE NorthWest, who won ‘Social Advocate of the Year‘ at this year’s Powerful Together Award.
- Eden Project raised a staggering £1.5 million through crowdfunding in less than 24 hours, by issuing bonds worth £500 on investment site Crowdcube.
- Crowdcube’s Kieran Garvey will be speaking on our Unlocking Social Finance workshop on the 20th November, along with speakers from London Early Years Foundation, Big Society Capital, Social Finance Ltd, Social and Sustainable Capital and Esmee Fairbarn. We’ll demystify social investment for you!
- Bickering. Bitchiness. Backstabbing. Bust ups. Nope, not a SSE marketing and communications meeting but the Apprentice, which returned this week*. I enjoyed this article highlighting the negative image of business that the show portrays: Ruthless narcissists churned out by The Apprentice aren’t fit for the real business world. (*our meetings are worse.)
- Congratulations are in order to Bethany Ainsley, who has been nominated for North East Woman Entrepreneur of the Year, and to Sinead MacManus who is a finalist in the Social Enterprise Entrepreneur of the Year (UK) category of the Great British Entrepreneur Awards.
- Social Enterprise Scotland have published their first annual survey of Scottish Social Enterprises.
- Staying in Scotland, long-standing social enterprise The Engine Shed in Edinburgh has announced that it is closing. The comments below the linked article indicate just how disappointing the news is for Edinburghians.
- An interesting funding opportunity in London, as small businesses and community groups are encouraged to apply for part of a £9m High Street Fund to ‘help revitalise and even potentially change the way we use our high streets.’
- Ogunte are creating a global map of women social entrepreneurs to encourage peer-to-peer support around the world.
- SSE London fellow Alice Lacey and her organisation Now>Press>Play, who use wireless headphone technology to create immersive educational experiences for schoolchildren, are looking for maths scriptwriters on a freelance basis. It’s a supper opportunity to get involved with a really innovative organisation.
- Becky John of Who Made Your Pants wrote a lovely blog post about her year on our scale up course.
- If you want to come on next month’s Measuring Social Impact course, we’ve only got 5 places left.
Have a good week!
