Mei Yee Hui

1
Introduction to social enterprise Southwark
Works!

• Mei Yee Hui
• 25 July 2005

2
Outline

• SEL and social enterprise
• Examples
• Where to start
• Southwark Works! programme

3
Common characteristics

• Mission driven
• Community involvement and ownership
• Customers buy your goods/services
• Profits stays in the business, not given to
  owners/shareholders
• Empowerment of individuals and communities

4
What is social enterprise?

• Providing enterprising solutions to social and
  environmental challenges and creating new ways of
  doing business

5

• Coin Street Community
• Children centre

6
Southwark Credit Union
7

• Community internet cafe

8

• Day Chocolate Company
• produces Divine chocolate

9
- Walworth Garden Farm
10

• Café Nova Interchange (CNI) is a catering firm
  and coffee shop that since 2001 has been located
  at the interchange between the Thameslink railway
  station and the underground and buses at the
  Elephant Castle Shopping Centre. 

Café Nova Interchange
11
Pecan
12
What is SEL?

• Regional agency that works in London
• Promotes and supports social enterprises
• Information centre
• Business support resource
• Developing best practice ideas e.g.
• shopsocialenterprise.com
• Beehive promotions
• Range of booklets
• Training

13
Where to start

• Get the idea
• Find a group of people to work with
• Do the research and planning
• Find out how much it will cost to run
• Do a business plan and budget
• Start small and get bigger

14
SELs role in Southwark Works!

• Developing a social enterprise framework
• Working with childcare organisations
• Organising network events
• Advising partners in social enterprise
• Signposting organisations to events, best
  practice and case studies
• Providing support and advice to people and groups
  in Southwark
• Identifying employment opportunities

15
Current work in SEL

• Working on various childcare programmes e.g. NDC
  Seven Sisters and NDC Ocean
• Developing business models with Co-operatives UK
  and Co-operative Solutions
• Networking
• Open surgery seminars

16
What is Southwark Works!

• The Southwark Works! programme was started to
  help achieve Southwarks Employment Strategy
  objectives
• Objective 1 Access
• Objective 2 Sustainability
• Objective 3 Progression
• Objective 4 Prevention

17
Worklessness in Southwark

• Who are we targeting?
• Interventions targeted on Key High-Needs Groups
• People with disabilities people with mental
  health problems long
• Term unemployed older unemployed (aged 50)
  people with alcohol
• or drug dependency homeless people
  ex-offenders people with low
• or no basic skills refugees and asylum seekers
  and younger
• unemployed people.
• Workless Lone Parents and parents on inactive
  benefits

18
Worklessness in Southwark

• Southwark Works! programme
• 2 million NRF funded for 2 years
• Team of specialist employment advisers,
  supporting the most disadvantaged in the labour
  market
• Mental health problems
• Physical disabilities
• Learning disabilities
• Histories of drug and alcohol problems
• Young people leaving Council care

19
Worklessness in Southwark

• Since the autumn of 2004
• 294 people have accessed the programme
• 25 are now working (2 of these have English as a
  second language)
• 16 of these have been working for 13 weeks
• 93 are in training
• 76 have had childcare places
• 65 parents have received bursary payments

20
What are the benefits for job seekers?

• The programme offers candidates one to one advice
• The process starts by advisers discussing with
  the client their ambitions
• Then an action plan is formed so the client can
  start working to achieve their goals
• Ability to provide financial support for example
  clothes for interviews, travel costs and help
  with childcare costs
• Attending suitable courses, which may be financed
• Once ready an employer liaison officer matches
  them to suitable jobs.

21
What are the benefits for employers?

• An efficient, free and reliable recruitment
  service
• Helps find the right person for the right job
• The programme offers motivated and committed
  candidates
• Ongoing support for the both employer and
  employee
• Helps to support the local community

22
Who are we working with?

• Jobcentre Plus, Reed in Partnership, Work
  Directions, Working Links, Southwark College,
  Southwark Adult Learning services, voluntary and
  community sector training providers, Regeneration
  partnerships, SETAA.
• HSBC, Phones 4U, Translucent Media Production,
  Burger King, The Hilton, Tesco.