Webinar to empower social enterprise and voluntary organisations this September
Social enterprises, CICs, and community organisations in Shropshire can benefit from the advice of a leading expert this September.
Gareth Hart will lead a webinar offered by the Shropshire Growth Hub on Monday 30 September 2024. It is funded via Shropshire’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund and is therefore free to organisations wishing to attend.
Gareth Hart, co-founder of Iridescent Ideas
Gareth is the co-founder of ‘Iridescent Ideas’, a social enterprise that helps other ethical businesses to thrive. He has been a champion of the social enterprise movement in Plymouth and the Southwest of the UK and led Plymouth’s successful bid to become the UK’s first ‘Social Enterprise City’ in 2013.
An initial event in June brought together social enterprises and voluntary organisations in Shropshire to identify what assistance and support they needed to grow their organisations.
Laura Atyeo who runs music therapy social enterprise ‘Open Harmony’ in Shropshire, said:
“There’s tremendous collective energy, intelligence and social spirit in Shropshire – the event in June, along with myriad other events, demonstrate this repeatedly. We want and need to come together and collaborate more to prevent that sense of isolation, being unheard, working in silo, and on meagre funding, that so many organisations have reported.
“And the message from Plymouth and other successful Social Enterprise places is very clear: a thriving network is the bedrock of any serious investment and social change. It’s through close working partnerships and collaborations that we encourage and support each other, and, out of this, opportunities for more funding and higher profiles of the excellent work we do can emerge.
“The potential for real, positive change is exciting. Let’s learn from what Gareth and the Plymouth network have achieved e.g. over £6m of external investment into their network and harness the learnings to build upon the huge contribution the sector already makes to the county’s economy”.
In 2022 there were 1184 registered voluntary organisations registered in Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin. The sector brought approximately £27m of external funding into the county and helped on average 2,284 people per organisation 1.
Mark Jones, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for growth and regeneration, said:
“This sector is responsible for employing nearly a 5th of the total workforce in Shropshire, so it makes a considerable contribution to the Shropshire economy. It is reassuring to see such a drive within the sector to grow and develop and our Shropshire Growth Hub is working closely with organisations, individuals and businesses across the county to help that to happen.”
The webinar with Gareth Hart will run from 11am to 12.30pm on Monday 30 September 2024. He will cover a series of topics including : advice on how to build a social enterprise network, actual case studies, the challenge of funding, the benefits of long term planning, and how to foster relationships and increase connections with local organisations.
This webinar is designed for social enterprises, CICs, and community organisations and is particularly relevant for those who want to collaborate, share resources and drive positive social and economic change within their communities.
Further information
1 Stats to Communicate the (vcsvoice.org)
UK-wide, the fund provided £2.6 billion for local investment by March 2025. Launched in 2022, the fund had three main priorities: support for local business, support for communities, and improving skills levels for individuals and companies.
