Community Enterprise

What is Community Enterprise?

“One of the most exciting developments in rural communities in recent years” – Alun Michael, Minister for Rural Affairs, Defra, 2004.

Gordon Brown says: “In my view, social enterprise is the new British business success story, forging a new frontier of enterprise – a quiet revolution involving 55,000 social enterprises in our country from the smallest community groups to larger businesses.”

Ed Miliband, minister for the Third Sector says “ that from classrooms to boardrooms, people need to know what social enterprise is and what it can achieve. “That is why we are launching this action plan – to shine a light on a movement that is at the vanguard of social change and enable it to continue to grow and thrive.”

We are all aware of the many changes and trends affecting our rural communities, one of the more inspiring outcomes of these trends is that communities are increasingly taking the lead in controlling the facilities, services and businesses that affect the quality of life in their own local area.

Community enterprise is a broad term used to describe this growing family of community self-help initiatives.

Typically they provide much needed services and opportunities for their local community, often stepping in where the private sector has failed to deliver and the public sector cannot reach.

What kinds of projects can community enterprise provide: ?

• Multi-use community halls
• Community run shops, post offices and pubs.
• Local produce markets.
• Recycling & reuse centres
• Charity trading arms
• Heritage centres and museums.
• Environmental services.
• Training schemes.
• Employment workspace.
• Collective food production & sales.
• Childcare facilities.
• Co-operatives.
• Care for the elderly.
• Green tourism initiatives.
• IT and Fitness Clubs.

As you can see from the list above, there is no one form or function that community enterprise takes, it is better described as a particular approach and ethos for getting things done. Certain guiding principles define this approach and all community enterprise activity will have these characteristics in common:

1. They are primarily driven by a social purpose or purposes.
2. They strive to be financially self-sustaining by, at least in part, engaging in trade of goods and services.
3. Any financial surplus generated is reinvested in the enterprise or for community benefit rather than being distributed as private profit to individuals.
4. Assets and wealth are held in trust for community benefit.
5. They are community owned and democratically involve members of their constituency in the governance of the organisation.
6. They are independent organisations accountable to their specific community.

Have You Heard About Sustainable Funding?

Sustainable Funding is about ensuring the long-term viability of an organisation. But it is often seen just as a question of getting better at fundraising or finding a single, secure source of income.

In fact, Sustainable Funding is about income diversification. This means ending an organisation’s over-reliance on one source of funding and moving to a more sustainable portfolio of diversified funding streams ranging  from charitable donations, through grants, service level agreements, contracts, trading on the open market and loans, depending on the needs of the organisation and the funding opportunities available to it.

For more on Sustainable Funding [ Click Here ]

Training in Sustainable Funding

Introduction to Sustainable Funding Seminar, February 2008

This workshop is designed to provide an overview of sustainable funding for frontline community organisations and to raise their awareness of the various funding options available to the voluntary and community sector including the generation of income from trading in goods and services.

The themes covered will be:

• what does ‘financial sustainability’ look like, and why it is important that voluntary and community organisations adopt an holistic approach to generating income
• why putting ‘planning’ at the heart of the organisation’s income strategy is key to becoming sustainable
• knowing an organisation’s full costs and how to calculate them
• generating income through trading goods and services
• how loan finance can act as a tool to enable voluntary and community organisations to grow and develop

For more information and a booking form, please [ Click Here ].

HAVE YOU GOT A BRIGHT IDEA THAT WOULD BENEFIT YOUR COMMUNITY?

Are you thinking of setting up a community enterprise – but not sure where to begin????

Has your parish plan identified a service that is desperately needed, but there is no existing organisation to take it on????

Is your community project stuck in a rut and facing yet another funding crisis??

FREE SUPPORT is available from CCD’s Social Enterprise service.

for individuals or groups who are based in the rural parishes of Devon.  We have an experienced and dedicated Social Enterprise Worker, who will come out to meet you, help you to identify your project development needs and support you throughout the process of establishing your enterprise.

Download a copy of the SE Guide [ Here ]

“The modernization of health and social care services – solutions through Social Enterprise”.  An overview and discussion document produced in September 2006
Download a copy [ Here ]

Contact: Dawn Eckhart Tel:01392 383681 email: [ dawn@devonrcc.org.uk ]

Are you thinking of Social Enterprise?

Click here for our [ Flow Diagram ]