Thanks to everyone who presented and attended last weeks event, held at Leigh Spinners Mill. Thanks to Farai from Everything Human Rights for Chairing, and to Alice Coren who was our SE in the Spotlight for her amazing organization ReMade Wigan CIC.
Also in attendance was Sarah Spanton from Waymarking who presented on a programme being undertaken by Wigan and Leigh Community Charity and Shared Assets, on Exploring Open Space Ventures. There are 3 Study Visits lined up that include Woodland Spaces and Food Growing, due to be held in May 2022.
The first visit is planned for the 14th April to FC United of Manchester. To enquire further, please contact David Baxter on d.baxter@wlcommunity.org.uk
Venue required. CAN YOU HELP?
The next Social Enterprise network will take place towards the end of April (date – TBC). We are looking for a venue to host. If you are interesting in hosting, please message David d.baxter@wlcommunity.org.uk
If you are interested in hosting a future Network event, please let us know.
Are you a local business looking for future opportunities?
The Wigan Council Business Engagement Team invite you to ‘Meet the Buyers’. This is a fantastic opportunity to have a chat with commissioners from Wigan Council, Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Wigan and Leigh College and other framework suppliers, including: YPO, Crown Commercial Service, NHS SBS and find out more about getting involved.
Get the help and support you need to succeed as the Business Engagement Team will be on hand to share their expertise and chat through any questions you may have about Wigan Council’s current commissioning intentions.
These informal drop in sessions are a great way to network and create new contacts, as well as having any questions you may have answered by industry experts.
The event is open to all business and is free to attend.
Booking is essential via the button below.
Tea and coffee provided.
Thursday 12th May 2022.
Leigh Sports Village, Sale Way, Leigh, WN7 4JY.
Session 1 – 9:30am – 12:00pm.
Session 2 – 1pm – 3:30pm.
The Local Access Fund (Proper Good programme) is due to launch on the 16th May 2022, as we start work on an exciting phase in the growth of Social Enterprises in Wigan Borough and GM. More information will be shared throughout April as plans for Events and Training develop, but in the meantime the first phase of the programme will include:
On the 16th March, Cllr Elise Wilson and Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham officially launched the co-design process for the GM Community Wealth Hub, which aims to make Greater Manchester the best place in the country to set up and grow co-ops, social enterprises, and employee-owned businesses. It was inspiring to see such a large and diverse group of stakeholders in attendance, and to have such knowledgeable voices from the sector share their ideas and experiences. A big thanks to David Baxter, Anwar Ali and Scott Darrugh for their presentations.
There was a wealth of input from attendees on areas of opportunity and potential improvement, ranging from making clear the Hub’s scope to the need to ensure the co-design process is as inclusive and accessible as possible – these ideas will help shape the next steps in the process.
The co-design process will run from May to August. GMCA want the people who would use and support the Hub, the people with real experience of the challenges and opportunities the sector faces, to drive the creation of a new impactful resource. For this reason, it will be down to stakeholders from the sector to shape what the Hub does and how it does it through a co-design process.
It is only with this approach that the Hub can be a success – this is a great time to get involved, whether by participating in a series of co-design workshops, letting GMCA now what you think via message, or receiving email updates on the process, click the button below…
A thriving sector of social enterprises, co-operatives and employee-owned businesses is central to our vision for a Greener, Fairer and more Prosperous Greater Manchester; and we believe that this Hub can play a key role in delivering this.
eBay in partnership with Social Enterprise UK and The World Fair Trade Organization are leading a new programme designed to accelerate the growth of the social enterprise sector in the UK, which is an incredibly exciting opportunity for social enterprises looking to grow their business online and their social impact. The 12 month programme launched in May 2021 and we now have almost 100 social enterprises selling on eBay.co.uk. We’ve already had great feedback from our customers, the media as well as the social enterprises on the programme.
We’re now looking to invite a further 200 to join in the next couple of months to go live on eBay.co.uk from May with a second group of 200 due to come onboard in September. Could this be you?
We have used our small business expertise to design a programme to enable social enterprises to grow their business on ebay.co.uk through the eBay for Change hub, you can see this here.
We are planning to scale the programme over the next 3 years with the ultimate ambition of becoming the go to destination for social enterprise and Fair Trade ecommerce.
The programme offers free fees for the first year along with an in-depth package of support that will help you every step of the way, from learning the basics through to scaling your business combined with access to the estimated 26 million eBay UK customers.
What next?
If you’re interested in finding out more about the programme or want to find out how to apply, email Joanna Pollard, the Partnership Project Lead… Joanna.Pollard@socialenterprise.org.uk
