Useful Links – a context for our projects
Here are a set of web links to useful information around the work we do as volunteers and the landscape of our ambitions as a community project in the not for profit sector.
Riverford Organic Farmers
A featured link for our keen ‘Muddy Booters’.
Riverford is organic cultivation as it should be. ‘Like having an allotment without the digging‘. (Their news feed is also featured on our web pages).
From veg boxes, recipes, fruit and vegetables to drinks – Riverford Organic Farmers offer a wonderful range. For our therapeutic garden, Riverford sets out a great template for how to think about, how to package and how to distribute produce.
We recommend them – (..and their food tastes great too! Ed:) See their web pages here.
SocEntEastMids (Social Enterprise East Midlands)
Now part of the SmithMartin LLP Social Business family, this site carries a wealth of news and information on social enterprise. An organisation now dedicated to early start-ups and early development for Social Enterprise ambitions.
Serving SocEnt clients across the six counties area and beyond. Free advice and support always…
Source: Accessed 26.08.2021 http://www.miningtheseem.org.uk/
Setting up a Social Enterprise – Gov.UK
An always current list of resources and links from Gov.UK on the creation of social enterprises, their governance, funding and development.
Source: Accessed 26.08.2021 https://www.gov.uk/set-up-a-social-enterprise
Social Enterprise UK
A national interest and development organisation for social enterprise in the UK.
‘Our members aren’t just social enterprises. They also include private businesses, charities and public sector organisations who support our vision of a world where social enterprise is the usual way of doing business’.
What they do?
- ‘Run effective campaigns for our members and to lobby on the sector’s behalf
- Carry out robust and respected research to help paint a picture of the UK’s social enterprise movement
- Build networks between social enterprises
- Work with our Corporate Partners to broker business for our members and other social enterprises
- Raise the profile of people and social enterprises in the sector’
Source: Accessed- 24.10.2016 http://www.socialenterprise.org.uk/
The Guardian – Social Enterprise news
A great set of news articles and current information and opinion on the social sector from this natonal newspaper. Always current and always updated.
Source: Accessed 24.10.2016 https://www.theguardian.com/society/socialenterprises
Business Enterprise Support (BSE) – Burton on Trent
A great local resource for both private sector companies and new social enterprises. Good business principles and advice from an organisation which is itself a social enterprise.
Business Enterprise Support – or BES – is a not-for-profit social enterprise primarily dedicated to helping people to start and successfully run their own businesses or social enterprises. For over 30 years, working from our head office in Burton-on-Trent, BES have helped thousands of people from all different backgrounds prepare, fund and successfully launch businesses of their own across the West Midlands.
Source: Accessed 24.10.2016 https://www.enterprisesupport.org/
Social Return on Investment
Measuring the impact of your social enterprise, or social business, is an important part of understanding how effective you have been, both in the creation of your community business and its processes, but also how you have helped and changed the community your serve.
These resources can help you map a way forward in assessing your impact.
Social Value UK – amplifying voices, inspiring change and maximising value.
Sinzer – valuing what matters?
In all your measurement and evaluation, Social Return on Investment (SROI) delivers knowledge and understanding through seven key principles…
- Involve stakeholders.
- Understand what changes.
- Value the things that matter.
- Only include what is material.
- Do not over-claim.
- Be transparent.
- Verify the result.
Good luck in developing and growing your community enterprise…
