Community Enterprise have launched a great new site www.runnative.co.uk, selling goods made by UK social enterprises all making direct positive social change and sales are already coming in.

Community Enterprise support the sustainability of third sector organisations and in their travels they came across fantastic products and services but enterprises who were struggling to get their products to the customers who would buy them.

This led to them initiating a high quality, bespoke, national (and perhaps international) e-commerce site aimed at the general public, to change buying patterns for the better. It is ambitious, high quality and unique.

Against all the odds they have managed to get it live before Christmas so you'll have just enough time for last minute present buying! This pilot phase will be built on with many more shops in the new year so if you know any social enterprises who might be interested, just send them their way, and if you need any last minute presents for Christmas, get shopping!

On Wednesday 5th December 2012, the current series of free business seminars from the UHI Management School concludes.
They will welcome Brian Weaver, CEO of the Highlands and Islands Social Enterprise Zone (HISEZ) as their final speaker.

Brian's seminar is entitled 'Why social enterprises must make profits' and will be held in association with The Social Enterprise Academy. This session will be of interest to not only those who run social enterprises and other third sector organisations, but also their professional advisers and board members.

To book a place on this FREE lunchtime seminar, which will run from 12.30 p.m. - 1.30 p.m., please contact  fiona.ryan@uhi.ac.uk

This seminar will be hosted from UHI's executive office in Inverness with delegates having the option to attend in person or link in via video-conferencing.

A free lunch buffet will be available to those attending in person from Inverness.

Gill Neill carrys out some work on behalf of Scottish Business in the Community; one of the roles is to work with employers to help them develop their businesses in a socially responsible way.

Gill Neill has been approached by a group of managers who work for an organisation with offices based throughout the Highlands.  The company are keen to offer personal development opportunities for their staff and have offered to release them so they can get involved in volunteering activities. 

A group of 10 managers have taken up the challenge and are keen to get involved in an activity that will offer some community benefit.  Ideally they would like to do something before Christmas – as part of their Festive Volunteering Challenge.

They are really open to ideas and would like organisations who would like some support to tell them what they need.  Some of the ideas they have discussed included - supporting and helping out at Christmas Parties, decorating community rooms – inside or out, delivering food to people who cannot get out of their homes.  These are only ideas, as a group they just want the opportunity to give something back to the community.

If you think there is something that they could do could,  contact Gill by close of play on Thursday 18th November.  She will pass the information onto the company and they can they start to explore their options.
Gill Neill, Gillian.neill@moray20.co.uk 07824 736248 with brief details of:
·       Your organisation
·       What you would like done
·       What date you would like them to attend
·       Where would the activity be based
The company will support by releasing the staff for the day, but cannot provide financial resources for activities.

The Scottish EDGE is a £1 million fund which aims to support and encourage entrepreneurial activity in Scotland. The fund is for ambitious entrepreneurs who wish to establish or grow their business. The businesses which demonstrate the most potential could win an award of between £20,000 and £50,000. Winners will also receive a package of support from the Royal Bank of Scotland which may include free banking, security advice, or mentoring support. The fund is open to small, young Scottish businesses which have the potential to achieve or increase sales by £200,000 (in the Highlands and Islands area) within a period of three years (or £400,000 in the Scottish Enterprise region). Eligible businesses may be account managed by HIE or be relationship managed by Business Gateway, as long as they meet all of the set criteria (see www.hie.co.uk/scottishEDGE).

PQASSO (Practical Quality Assurance System for Small Organisations) is a quality standard that has been designed for Voluntary Sector organisations, At Voluntary Action Lochaber, they have licensed PQASSO Mentors who will support your organisation through the process of Self-Assessment towards accreditation of the PQASSO Quality Mark.

The training will be held at:
An Drochaid, Claggan, Fort William PH33 6PH on Tuesday 27th November from 10am till 4.30pm,

The day costs £20 per person with discounts for more than 3 people. This payment will also entitle organisations to receive training in the process of Implementing PQASSO and lunch and refreshments on the day.

This implementation training is only available at this time, as VAL have been very fortunate in securing funding from Highlife Highland.

To book a place, please email admin@valochaber.org or phone 01397 706044.

 

This week sees the launch of two innovative training events being hosted at the An Roth Community Enterprise Centre on the Isle of Mull, just as the Scottish Government sits down to consider responses to its controversial Community Empowerment Consultation.

Delegates from across the UK are being offered a two day intensive weekend of study visits examining the range of social enterprises that have flourished on the Isle of Mull, Argyll. From the An Roth Enterprise Centre, the swimming pool, moorings and jetties, arts venues, profit making village halls and even community land buyouts  - the residents of the islands have been ‘doing it for themselves’ for years. There’s also an innovative training programme looking at practical ways to deal with conflict on committees and Boards of Directors and maintaining volunteer engagement.

Much More Than A Training Course
Training Manager for An Roth Associates, Sian Scott explained “Social Enterprise and community empowerment are now higher than ever before on the governments’ agenda. In our experience, while it’s a challenging path to take, there are huge benefits to be gained from local communities managing and running their own services and facilities. The volunteers and staff drawn from local Mull enterprises have offered their time to share their journeys so we have put together an exciting programme of seminars and visits., which can be run as a one day or two day event. Groups who have visited in the past have found it far more revealing than attending a conference or training course especially with the added benefit of networking with likeminded social entrepreneurs from across the UK. Some have questioned the cost of over £300 for the two days, that’s well within commercial rates and as a social enterprise, all the profits raised will go back to support local projects and each social enterprise hosting our visitors receives a fee for their time.

Due to Popular Demand…………………..
The island has had its own Development Trust since the late 90’s which has been on hand to offer assistance to many of Mull’s community groups as well as developing several initiatives of its own, and as a result the island has played host to increasing numbers of groups coming to Mull to see what’s been going on. “We have hosted delegations from all over Scotland , Europe, South Africa, Canada and the USA, so we thought it appropriate that visiting groups contributed to the islands economy “ explains Sandy Brunton, Chair of the Mull & Iona Community Trust. “We particularly were thrilled when volunteers from West Wemyss in Fife came on this study trip and then went on to win the Big Lottery Village SOS, reopened their village pub and are now regenerating their community”

“"With an ever increasing interest in community enterprise and the development trust approach,
DTAS welcomes the launch of this exciting new initiative. The combination of training and study visits
will provide a unique opportunity for other communities to be inspired by and learn from all that has
been achieved by the community on Mull." Ian Cooke, Director of the Development Trust Association Scotland

One Journey – Five Case Studies  - for Social Entrepreneurs                   
One day programme:     11 December 2012
Two day programme:     28 February - 1 March 2013 & 22 - 23 April 2013

Community Engagement & Conflict Avoidance
 Two day programme:     Weekend Option: 8 - 9 December 2012 &  Weekday Option: 14 - 15 March 2013

Where?  An Roth Community Enterprise Centre, Craignure, Isle of Mull, Argyll (overnight Tobermory)
Day One: 11.00 am to 5.30pm    (Depart 10.00am ferry from Oban)
Day Two:   9.30 am to 4.30pm    (Depart 5.00 pm ferry from Mull)

Tailored Visits & In-house courses: If you would like to bring your own group we can tailor the visits, learning sessions and dates to suit your needs. Also if you would like a bespoke, one or two days course delivered in-house – contact us.
Prices?
£314 per person for two days (inc refreshments, lunch both days & on-island transport)**
Accommodation is excluded but special rates are available from accommodation providers in Tobermory

• *A shortened one day programme is available at £167. 

Contact Details :
Sian Scott  (Training Manager)                           sscott@mict.co.uk                Tel: 01680 812904
James Hilder (Programme Tutor)                     jhilder@hotmail.co.uk          Tel:  07833 656361

Monday 26 November
Bonar Bridge Community Hall
10am - 4pm
Sign up now for your free place

The aim of this event is to help community/third sector organisations identify the different ways they can make their asset more sustainable.  Through information sessions,  facilitated workshops and group discussion  delegates will have the opportunity to raise and discuss key issues facing them on their journey to developing a sustainable community asset – helping them to identify and implement practical solutions, build support networks, and identify other sources of  information and advice.  

Whilst the content of the seminar will address three broad themes of Income Generation, Legal Structures and Costing and Pricing, delegates are encouraged to prepare for the workshops a ‘real-life’ issue which they are facing with regards to the development of their asset.  These actual ‘case-studies’ will form the basis for group discussion and comment during the course of the day. 

This full day (10.00am to 4.00pm) event will be held at Bonar Bridge Community Hall,  Lairg Road, Bonar Bridge, IV24 3AE. 

Overlooking the Kyle of Sutherland, the building is in excess of 100 years old and has had a variety of uses throughout the last century before becoming Bonar Bridge Community Hall in 2004. A 3 phase refurbishment of the premises commenced in 2008 and completed earlier this year with help from a Big Lottery Community Spaces Award. A grand re-opening took place in August 2012 and today the hall proudly provides the local community with a host of modern facilities.

Click here to book your delegate place on the event or telephone Just Enterprise direct on 0141 425 2939. Please note we are offering this event free of charge to members/employees of third sector organisations. Delegate places are limited however and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.

A networking event at Moray Arts Centre on Friday 2 November aims to bring together cultural organisations from across the Highlands & Islands to meet with Creative support organisations working across Scotland.

The HISEZ Cultural Networking lunch, organized in conjunction with Highlands & Islands Enterprise, is open to any creative Social Enterprise keen to hear from the extensive range of speakers.

Speakers include Senscot who will be sharing information about their Cultural Network, Ewen MacAulay from Intellectual Assets & Innovation, Katriona Holmes from Arts & Business Scotland and Karen Dick from Creative Scotland.

Each speaker will be talking about exciting initiatives available to cultural organisations as well as support available to them. There will also be the chance for one to one sessions which each speaker so that organisations can ask for some tailored advice.

In addition to the speakers, Hi-Arts will also be available for one to one sessions for everyone attending the event. Hi-Arts play a key role in development and support for the arts and heritage sectors across the Highlands and Islands.

Ann Marie Reid, Senior Social Cultural Enterprise Manager at HIE said: “HISEZ delivers a programme of network events on a range of topics on behalf of HIE. These events enable social enterprises and interested individuals to network, share ideas and experiences. We are delighted with the response to the Cultural Networking Lunch that is taking place in Moray next week, and trust it will generate stimulating discussion and debate amongst participating ‘creative’ social enterprises and individuals. We are also looking forward to welcoming guest speakers from Creative Scotland, Senscot, Arts and Business Scotland and HIE and believe it will be an interesting and informative day for all involved.”

HISEZ has been delivering networking events across the Highlands and Islands for the last 3 years, addressing various issues and helping to bring people together to talk, share ideas and experiences.  They are an informal way to find out more information and to network with like minded people.

To find out more about the Cultural Networking lunch or more HISEZ networking events visit www.hisez.co.uk