2009/11/28

FYI: The food issue from ClearlySo!

"When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world." George Washington Carver

What is Social Entrepreneurship?

Statement of Faith
You can find other "Market with Meaning" but you definitely want to see "Profit with Purpose".
I personally "Believe in Kingdom Transformation" because I know there is only ONE "Life for Significant".

--- 2009年11月28日 星期六,ClearlySo <newsletter@clearlyso.com> 寫道﹕


寄件人: ClearlySo <newsletter@clearlyso.com>
主題: The food issue from ClearlySo!
收件人: incubator.hou@gmail.com
日期: 2009年11月28日,星期六,上午12:15

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ClearlySo

ClearlySo Newsletter November 2009

Dear Houghton,

Inspired by a radio programme I heard recently on successful ethical food companies, I bring you:
  • A lowdown of the main ethical trends in food, including the questions people are asking and sample companies from the ClearlySo directory.
And the normal...
  • Jobs in the social business sector: techies, internships and feature writers
  • BIG NEWS
  • Read on...
Quick Links
Fairtrade vs organic vs local: The lowdown

Fairtrade logoFairtrade

Everyone seems to know about Fairtrade these days- it's all people talked about in our voxpop on social business.  But here's an explanation just in case: If a product has the Fairtrade mark it means that the producers have received a fair price for their materials that includes something called a 'Fairtrade premium' to be invested in the local community.

The questions everyone is asking: Does the Fairtrade premium distort the market? Is the logo a little bit dated? Does Fairtrade have to have a capital 'F'? Is it better to buy a Fairtrade banana than an organic, locally grown apple?

Some sample ClearlySo Fairtrade companies:

Also: See Tom's June blog on Shared Interest, a financial services company for Fairtrade companies, which started off an interesting debate on the future of Fairtrade.

Organic



According to our social business glossary, organic food is:

'any food derived from plants or animals that has been produced without the use of man-made fertilisers, pesticides, growth regulators, routine antibiotics and livestock feed additives.'

It is regulated by various organisations over the world, the main UK one being The (glamorously named) Soil Association.  Organic has grown hugely as a market over the last few years and appeals to consumers not only because of the ethical/environmental benefits but also (perhaps to a greater extent) the perceived health and nutritional benefits.

The questions everyone is asking: Does eating organic food really have any health benefits? Is organic food scaleable, given that more land is required to produce the same amount of produce than if chemicals are used?

Some sample ClearlySo organic companies:


Local

Not to be confused with organic but often overlapping (organic food is, given the lack of preservatives, best eaten near the site of production), the local food movement is driven by the desire to support local communities and, in some cases, to conserve varieties of produce that would otherwise lose their way amidst iceberg lettuces and Spanish strawberries.

The questions everyone is asking: How local is local? Is an organic Portuguese grape better than an inorganic grape from the next door county? Is this food nationalism?


Some sample ClearlySo local-focused companies:

ClearlySo Jobs

BriefcaseA sample of some of the great social business jobs available on ClearlySo:

BIG NEWS
  There are now 561 social businesses and enterprises listed on ClearlySo (and climbing).  Here's some of their news:
  • Bikeworks wins 'Best New Social Enterprise' award: Bikeworks is an east London based social enterprise that offers a range of organisational and public cycle services, including; cycle training courses, repairs, bike re-cycling, travel planning and sales of new & second hand bikes.
  • Punch and Juicy's Davina Roberts wins Future 100: Punch and Juicy is a new social enterprise that provides training and employment to the homeless.
  • Wedge Card announces Kensington and Chelsea launch: Wedge Card is a reward card for customers of independent local businesses.
...And ClearlySo launched its foray into Canada!

And Finally...
 
As the person in charge of web development I'd love to hear your thoughts about the website and what you would like to see on it. We are building the website in response to the demands of our main user groups: social businesses and enterprises, socially-minded investors, suppliers and those who wish to engage with this thriving sector.  Traffic is surging and we'd like to keep it that way- tell us what you want!

Best regards,

Julia and the Team
ClearlySo

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ClearlySo | 25 Bickerton Road | London | N19 5JT | United Kingdom

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2009/11/27

FYI: Oikocredit E-zine #4 - November 2009

"When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world." George Washington Carver

What is Social Entrepreneurship?

Statement of Faith
You can find other "Market with Meaning" but you definitely want to see "Profit with Purpose".
I personally "Believe in Kingdom Transformation" because I know there is only ONE "Life for Significant".

--- 2009年11月25日 星期三,Oikocredit Corporate communications <noreply@oikocredit.org> 寫道﹕


寄件人: Oikocredit Corporate communications <noreply@oikocredit.org>
主題: Oikocredit E-zine #4 - November 2009
收件人: incubator.hou@gmail.com
日期: 2009年11月25日,星期三,下午9:49

Oikocredit Oikocredit Update  
Subscribe   |   Unsubscribe  

Dear Oikocredit friend,

 

Oikocredit looks at more than just the financial bottom line when financing a project partner to reduce poverty. High on the list of importance is our environment.

 

In this edition of the Ezine, we look at three Oikocredit project partners who pride themselves in using eco-friendly methods and helping poor entrepreneurs at the same time.

 

Spread the word about socially responsible investment by forwarding this Ezine to those who may be interested in what Oikocredit does.


In practice

Australia: The bare necessities

It was a light-bulb moment when two Australian entrepreneurs envisaged a for-profit company that could also improve the lives of people living in poverty.

 

Off-grid power company Barefoot Power was born after Harry Andrews and Stuart Craine decided to produce safe, affordable lighting for the poor. The Oikocredit equity partner provides safe and affordable lighting systems to the poor, and encourages small entrepreneurs to sell their products.

 

Firefly entrepreneur Joseph Kato, purchased his motorbike with profit he made from selling Barefoot's lighting products.

Read more…

Philippines: One coconut at a time

 

When Juan Marquez came up with the concept of 1M Agro-Fuel, the aim went beyond traditional business.

 

Not only did the project need to be profitable, it had to be sustainable, create opportunities for local employment and be in tune with the environment. Juan found the solution among the masses of rotting coconuts polluting the waterways of the Philippines.

Read more…

Bolivia: Preserving the environment and the community

For the Bolivian company of Guaguazú S.A, the sustainable use of the native Cusi Palm is the key to success.

 

Guaguazú employs mainly indigenous women from the Guarayos region, who work in the gathering and processing of the Cusi nut. The objective of Guaguazú S.A. is to develop a sustainable industry around the fruit of the Cusi Palm in the small regions of Guarayan and Chiquitana in Santa Cruz.

Read more…

Latest deals


Bulgaria - PERELIK - € 100,000
The credit cooperative of Perelik supports projects of small agricultural producers in the rural areas of Bulgaria. Perelik is situated in the town of Smolyan, in a mountainous region of Centralni Rhodopi. The Oikocredit loan will be distributed among the present 569 cooperative members. About 37% of the cooperative members are women. An additional € 100,000 loan was also approved with funding from the Swiss Agency for Development Cooperation (SDC); funds which are under management by Oikocredit. Read more on the SDC fund.
India - DRISHTEE - € 361, 000 (25,000,000 INR)
Drishtee Foundation is a non-profit organisation that engages in rural entrepreneurship development, micro finance, rural health, rural education and establishment of rural retail shops. Drishtee's franchise network serves nearly 6,000 villages in 10 Indian states, with a strong focus on the northern and north-eastern states.
Colombia - VIRMAX - € 137, 223 (USD 200,000)
Virmax is a private company that exports high quality Colombian coffee and works with 27 small Colombian coffee grower associations from the departments of Huila, Tolima and Cauca. The associations have between 60 and 500 members. As of May this year, the company is buying directly from around 2,000 small coffee growers - of which about 15% are women.
Senegal - FCCMS - € 2,000,000 (1,311,914,000 XOF)
FCCMS (Federation des Caisses du Credit Mutuel du Senegal) is made up of 86 saving and credit affiliates with almost 290,000 registered members. By providing small loans and other financial services, FCCMS gives clients the opportunity to generate income, help their families and create a more vibrant small-business sector in Senegal.

Read more…


Facts and Figures

Facts & Figures - as per 30 September

New loans*

        € 83.9 million

Total projects

780

Active countries

 69

People reached by MFI partners                 

 17.5 million

*approved loan or equity amount January - September 2009

Read more…


Corporate News

  • Dutch government subsidy for Central America and the Dominican Republic
  • Oikocredit thinks green

Read more…

 

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FYI: Social Enterprise Coalition Newsletter 26-11-09

"When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world." George Washington Carver

What is Social Entrepreneurship?

Statement of Faith
You can find other "Market with Meaning" but you definitely want to see "Profit with Purpose".
I personally "Believe in Kingdom Transformation" because I know there is only ONE "Life for Significant".

--- 2009年11月27日 星期五,Social Enterprise Coalition <newsletter@socialenterprise.org.uk> 寫道﹕


寄件人: Social Enterprise Coalition <newsletter@socialenterprise.org.uk>
主題: Social Enterprise Coalition Newsletter 26-11-09
收件人: "Social Enterprise Coalition" <newsletter@socialenterprise.org.uk>
日期: 2009年11月27日,星期五,上午2:10

sec logo

 

Social Enterprise Coalition Newsletter 26-10-09

Inside this issue

Social Enterprise Coalition activity

News

Events

Resources

Member profile

Website of the fortnight  

Jobs


Social Enterprise Coalition activity 

Booking opens for Voice10

The Voice10 programme is available online and the Coaliton is delighted to be able to reveal the names signed up to speak at the event in Cardiff on 1st and 2nd February 2010, which include Nigel Annett, CEO of Welsh Water, Ed Mayo, Chief Executive of Co-operatives UK ,and Caroline Mason, CEO of Investing for Good.

Along with plenaries, workshops and an interactive exhibition, the new Social Enterprise Mark will be launched on day one (more info below in News), and there will be a Social Enterprise Question Time event to debate some of the big issues facing the movement at the end of day two.

The theme of Voice10 is “No More Business as Usual”. Social enterprises do more than just "the usual"; they are profit making businesses that place ethics, transparency and social and environmental return at their core.

With the UK still in recession, the Social Enterprise Coalition believes the time is right for the movement to come together and provide some answers to the challenges faced by business in the current climate:

  • How can we ensure social enterprises have a greater impact and help rebuild a better, more sustainable economy?
  • Can social enterprise reform public services at a time when value for money is one of the most important issues we face?
  • And how can we make new connections and collaborate with each other and with the private sector?
Further information on the programme will be released in the coming weeks but booking is now open and you can register for your place at the Voice10 website - http://voice10.org/pages/voice.html  

Last few days to vote for the Social Enterprise Awards 2009

The Social Enterprise Awards is now in its final stage and the public have until Monday 30th November to vote for the winners - so vote now! 

Each of the four nations unveiled their winners at special events held last week.  These organisations are all now in the running to win the UK wide prize in their category.  The England winners met Prime Minister Gordon Brown at a special social enterprise reception held at No 10 Downing Street on Social Enterprise Day.

Videos of each of the finalists are available online to help the public decide how to cast their vote - http://www.socialenterpriseawards.org.uk/pages/socialenterpriseawards.html

The winners will be revealed at a gala ceremony in London on 3rd December.


New manifesto workshop in Leeds

The postponed Leeds manifesto workshop has now been rescheduled.  It will take place at the Oxford Place Centre in Leeds on 9 December.  

The workshops are intended to help the Coalition to gauge views and tell you more about our plans for the social enterprise manifesto. We would like to hear your thoughts and ideas on what we should ask from the political parties.

The workshop is open to all Coalition members. To register visit the Social Enterprise Coalition website.


Call for good commissioning practice

The Coalition is part of the National Programme for Third Sector Commissioning Partnership.

Our role within this is researching good practice and developing detailed guidance on commissioning from social enterprises. We are therefore looking for excellent examples of how commissioners have used innovative ways to get greater value from their commissioning. This could include the creation of new social enterprises, the use of community benefit clauses, building capacity and user involvement.

If you have had a positive commissioning experience you would like to share; or are a commissioner with a creative track record, please contact ceri.jones@socialenterprise.org.uk.


Funding future jobs in your social enterprise

As the Future Jobs Fund is rolled out, we would like to continue building up a picture of how social enterprises are accessing the Fund, the capacity of social enterprises to scale up this involvement, and growth opportunity for the Fund itself.

We wish to gather more information on the length of funding, contract sizes, distinct business support needs that arise, innovative examples of how social enterprises plan to sustain jobs, and thoughts on what more the Department for Work and Pensions should do to involve social enterprises in creating meaningful employment.

Please contact Jon Woolfson by email on jon.woolfson@socialenterprise.org.uk or telephone 020 7793 2325 with your responses.

News 

Social Enterprise Mark coming in the new year

The Coalition and RISE have officially entered into a joint venture that will administer a new national Social Enterprise Mark which will be launched in February at Voice10.

Steve Wyler, who is the chair of the Steering Group that has been working on an identifier for Social Enterprise said the following: “We’re really excited to officially make the Social Enterprise Mark available to social enterprises across the UK.

As RISE’s Mark has shown and research has confirmed – there is a need for a visual identity for social enterprises in order to significantly raise awareness and understanding of the added value of what social enterprises do.

We have to be ambitious about social enterprise and aim for widespread visibility – we believe this new Mark will help move social enterprise into the mainstream, where it belongs.”  


Global recognition for The Phone Co-op

The Phone Co-op was recognised as one of the outstanding co-operatives from around the world at the International Co-operative Alliance General Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, last week.

The Oxfordshire-based telecoms co-operative, the only one of its kind in the UK, received an Honourable Mention in the medium sized category of the dotCoop Global Awards for Co-operative Excellence and was the only UK co-operative amongst the nine award winners.

Accepting the award on behalf of The Phone Co-op, chief executive Vivian Woodell said: “It is a great honour for The Phone Co-op to be recognised at a global level, especially as the key criteria used by the judges were all about how well each organisation put into practice a distinctively co-operative business approach, which is what we aim to do. I should like to pay tribute to our board, and to my colleagues, as well as to our customers and members for having made this achievement possible.”

Events

Ministry of Justice social enterprise conference 2010 

4 March 2010

London

This is a free conference intended to promote understanding of social enterprises and raise awareness of opportunities to staff across the criminal justice service.

If you wish to attend, pleassend an email to thirdsector@justice.gsi.gov.uk.


Rise annual conference and AGM

1st December

Devon

Rise, the social enterprise network for the south west of England, is preparing to host its annual conference and AGM next Tuesday 1st December. The event will be held at the social enterprise venue Dartington Halland the keynote speaker is Social Enterprise Ambassador and CEO of Fifteen, Penny Newman.

For more information contact Sophia Bell sophiabell@rise-sw.co.uk


Social Enterprise Yorkshire and Humber inaugural conference and AGM

3rd December

Yorkshire

Social Enterprise Yorkshire and the Humber, the regional representative body for social enterprise, will be holding its inaugural conference on December 3rd at Pontefract Racecourse.

The conference will be addressed by a nationally recognised keynote speaker from the sector and a panel debate involving Yorkshire Forward and regional sector leaders and will offer workshops looking at cutting edge issues for the sector.

The conference will be followed by the SEYH AGM where the new board will be elected. 

For further information and to book to attend visit http://seyhconf09.eventbrite.com.

Resources

Blue Rocket pre-Christmas PR promotion for social enterprise

Save up to 25% on your PR during December with social enterprise and charity PR specialists Blue Rocket.

Following on from Global Entrepreneurship Week and Social Enterprise Day last week, Blue Rocket have come up with a special offer to help sector organisations to market themselves effectively in 2010.

Any new organisations that contact them before 4th December and then sign up and start a standard PR retainer (minimum of 3 days per month for 4 months) in December will get an extra free day for each month they sign up. So to put this another way, if you sign up to a four month retainer, then you will get four days for free, which is a saving of at least £1,800 if you are a smaller enterprise, and £2,600 if you have more than 25 employees.

To find out more about Blue Rocket's high impact work for the sector please see www.bluerocketgroup.com or contact one of our team of rocketeers to enquire about starting a campaign by calling 01273 779196 or emailing info@bluerocketgroup.com


British Council logo

British Council search for partners

The British Council is the United Kingdom’s cultural relations agency. We build engagement and trust for the UK through the exchange of knowledge and ideas between people worldwide. The UK social enterprise and entrepreneurship experience is a great way of achieving our ambition to strengthen cultural relations with other countries.

We want to identify individuals and organisations from the UK who are interested in working with us globally and who represent the diversity of the social entrepreneurship community – including from the third sector, private sector, government and think tanks and from education and training providers. We are seeking to work with you for co-investment and partnership opportunities and to contract services through separate tender exercises. Working with us will offer opportunities to internationalise your work, promote the UK social entrepreneurship experience and develop mutual partnerships with overseas countries.

We are focusing our work in the following countries: China, Indonesia, Philippines, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, New Zealand, Croatia, Georgia, Serbia, Turkey, and Ukraine. We anticipate working with additional countries over time.

For further information on our work in social entrepreneurship and social enterprise please download information at http://www.britishcouncil.org/indonesia-social-entrepreneurship-invitation


 

 

CAN Engage

Does your charity or social enterprise need extra business support?

CAN Engage matches the skills of corporate executives with the business needs of third sector organisations. Projects can range from between three to six months on topics including new product development, pricing strategies and marketing and sales planning.

The project support is free to third sector organisations but participants must commit to providing feedback and taking part in events with CAN and their corporate partners.

If you are interested, tell CAN more about your organisation and your business needs by completing this online form - http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=plZlS3_2bKLQ_2fa7oRCGF6fhg_3d_3d

CAN Engage is run by the social enterprise CAN. It's mission is to help third sector organisations scale up and maximise their social impact. For more information visit www.can-online.org.uk  


National Safeguarding Delivery Unit: secondment opportunity

This is an opportunity to work alongside central government and multi-agency partners to achieve improved outcomes for children by being part of the newly created National Safeguarding Delivery Unit (NSDU).

The NSDU became operational on 1 July 2009 as part of the Government’s response to Lord Laming’s report The Protection of Children in England: A Progress Report. The Government accepted all of his recommendations, issuing a detailed response on 6 May 2009, The Protection of Children in England: action plan.

The NSDU will provide cross-government leadership on safeguarding issues through a group of expert staff from across government, local partners and the third sector dedicated to driving forward a programme of improvement in safeguarding children. The Unit reports into the ministerial subgroup on safeguarding attended by the Secretaries of State for Children, Schools and Families, Health, Justice and the Home Affairs.

They are keen to arrange a secondment from a third sector organisation into the Unit for someone who has direct experience of leading child protection services at local level.

This will be an excellent opportunity to have a real influence on national policy development and be part of what we hope will grow to be a dynamic multi-agency environment.  If you are interested, please contact Alison Murphy alison.murphy@nsdu.gsi.gov.uk or 020 7783 8608 by 18 December 2009.

Member Profile

Siawns Teg Cymru - Fair Chance Wales

Siawns Teg means Fair Chance. The organisation, which is based in Powys in Wales, supports people who are, or believe they are, excluded from their local community. Most of its work concentrates on two specific groups - people who have come to Powys from other cultures, in search of work, social interaction, and community involvement and young people about to leave full time education and in need life skills learning to become more involved in their community.  

www.siawnsteg.co.uk/ 

Website of the fortnight

All4charities

All4charities is a brand new online shopping website which generated money for charitable causes.  Customers who shop via the site online portal, can buy items from their favourite retailers then donate the commission that All4charities receives for the transaction to the charity of their choice. It costs the customer no more to buy through this website than any other, including buying from major high street retailers, and there is no membership fee.

www.all4charities.co.uk

Jobs

Unlimited Potential

Director of Operations

Salary: £38,961 - £42,513 pa

Location: North West

Unlimited Potential is a rapidly growing and nationally recognised social enterprise. Our mission is to make the world a happier and healthier place to live. Our focus is creativity and innovation.

We seek our first Director of Operations, who will be part of the senior management team and a Board member.

You will lead on and develop both service delivery and workforce. You will have affinity with our values and an understanding of the factors affecting happiness and health. With an eye for detail, you will have extensive skills, knowledge and experience of planning services and budgets, workforce engagement and employment relations. With strong leadership ability, you will be able to work with professionals and lay people, as well as motivating staff.

For a discussion, contact Chris Dabbs (Chief Executive) on 0161 743 0088.

For an application pack, contact Rose O’Hara – 0161 743 0088 or rose.ohara@unlimitedpotential.org.uk Please quote code UP/DO/05

Closing date: 21st December 2009

For more information: info@unlimitedpotential.org.uk  

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