Social Enterprise Coalition activity 
Right to Request programme evaluated too soon, says Social Enterprise Coalition Responding to the ‘Establishing social enterprises under the Right to Request Programme’ report published last week by the NAO, Peter Holbrook, Chief Executive of the Social Enterprise Coalition (SEC), said: “We have to question why a value for money assessment was conducted when only four of the 47 Right to Request organisations had completed the process. It is very difficult to draw any accurate or fair conclusions based on the evidence. Research to assess value for money would have been much better carried out at a later date with a larger sample size. “The report points to a risk of not having targets set by the Department of Health. But to stipulate the benefits to be delivered by social enterprises in this way would negate the ability of these organisations to empower their staff and communities to develop quality services that meet the needs of patients. To do so would undermine the principles that form the basis of the Right to Request Programme. A letter to the Financial Times based on this response was published on 25 June. Read the full response on the Social Enterprise Coalition website.
SEC members invited to next meeting of the APPG on social enterprise
The All Party Parliamentary Group on Social Enterprise is a cross party group of politicians who support the social enterprise movement. SEC hosts the secretariat for the group and has organised a seminar in the Houses of Parliament from 4.00 – 5.30pm on Tuesday 12 July on Social Enterprises Collaborating with Local Authorities. From proposals to embed social value in public sector procurement to the new community rights to bid and buy, there has never been a more important time to foster successful relationships between Local Authorities and social enterprises. The seminar will feature expert local government and social enterprise panellists who will share their recommendations on collaboration, and provide an opportunity to network with leading social enterprise practitioners from around the UK. We’re delighted to be able to invite SEC members along to this event. Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. To reserve a place, please fill in the registration form on our website.
 Social Enterprise Explained – new guide from the Social Enterprise Coalition Lots of people are asking about social enterprise so the Social Enterprise Coalition produced a guide for people who are just getting interested in the sector. It’s aimed at getting all the right info in one place for anyone who might want to start, buy from, invest in, commission from, or support social enterprises. You can download it for free from our publications page. The publication is proving very popular so if you’ve not yet seen it you can download it for free from the Social Enterprise Coalition website.
 Monitor Group survey of social entrepreneurs Monitor Group, in collaboration with the Social Enterprise Coalition and a number of other social enterprise organisations, is producing a report on the context for social entrepreneurship. The group wish to gain the input of those working in the social sector on the issues, opportunities and challenges they face. Names, organisations and responses will be completely confidential unless approved by you. Up to three respondents who complete the survey within the next two weeks will be eligible to win a 64GB, WiFi and 3G capable iPad 2 (or a contribution of £600 to a social enterprise or organisation of their choice). Find out more on the Social Enterprise Coalition website. 
News 
Brighter Future Workshop reach the finals of the National Lottery Awards 2011 Social Enterprise Coalition member, Brighter Future Workshop (BFW), has made it through to the grand finals of the National Lottery Awards 2011. The National Lottery Awards are an annual search to find the UK's favourite Lottery-funded projects. Lottery players raise around £28 million each week for Good Causes. These range from large scale, multi-million pound investments to small community grants. Thousands of great projects get the cash they need to make a real difference to people and their local communities across the UK. BFW, which won the prestigious Social Enterprise of the Year at the Social Enterprise Awards 2009, is down to the final three in the category Best Environment Project. The winner will be decided by a public vote held between 2 September and 26 September. Find out more about the National Lottery Awards here.
Hill Holt Wood celebrate double award win Social Enterprise Coalition member, Hill Holt Wood, is celebrating this week after winning two prestigious awards. The social enterprise started the week as a winner at the Royal Forestry Society Excellence in Forestry Awards 2011. The RFS Excellence in Forestry Awards are the UK’s premier competition, recognising the wise management of trees and woodlands. Hill Holt Wood were presented with the Community Forest Award in recognition of their success in managing their community woodland in a way that is sustainable and beneficial to the landscape, the local people, biodiversity and the economy in both the short and long term. And the winning streak continued on Wednesday evening when Hill Holt Wood’s CEO and SEC Board member, Karen Lowthrop, was presented with the Ernst and Young Midlands and North Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award at a special event held in Manchester. Find out more about Hill Holt Wood on their website.
Further £81million distributed by Transition Fund The Office for Civil Society has announced that a further £81million has been awarded from the Transition Fund, taking the total awarded to date up to £97.5million to over 900 organisations. The remainder of the fund has already been offered to civil society organisations. The fund was designed to help organisations adapt to a changing funding environment and to take advantage of future opportunities opened up by the Big Society. The Minister for Civil Society, Nick Hurd, said: “The Transition Fund is part of a much wider package of support for charities, voluntary groups and social enterprises. The Cabinet Office will invest around £470million in direct support over four years. We are opening up new opportunities for charities to deliver public services, cutting red tape and developing new sources of finance such as the Big Society Bank. “However, the scale of the economic challenges we face as a country mean that charities are facing tough times. All the charities receiving transition funds have a plan to overcome current challenges and emerge stronger. We recognise the hugely important contribution charities make to our society and we are committed to supporting them.” Find out more about the Transition Fund here.
Advantage Business Systems awarded the 2011 Microsoft Partner Excellence Award Social Enterprise Coalition member, Advantage Business Systems, has been awarded the 2011 Microsoft Partner Excellence Award. Advantage was selected as one of the top Microsoft Partners for delivering innovative business solutions to organisations across the public, private and not for profit sectors to help meet key business objectives such as achieve significant cost-savings by improving operational efficiency. One of their more recent customers is social enterprise, Spectrum Community Health (Spectrum), which delivers healthcare services in the Wakefield area. Spectrum was one of the first social enterprises to emerge through the Government’s Right to Request programme. They deliver specialist advice, care and treatment for substance and alcohol misuse, contraception and sexual health as well as providing health and wellbeing services to local secure environments. As a newly independent organisation, Spectrum was keen to explore alternatives to the NHS’s standard back office system. The organisation's Director of Finances & Resources said: “As a small organisation, we felt our business needs would require a solution that would be much more efficient in terms of real time data and enable us to streamline the finance function whilst also being more cost-effective, efficient and enhance our organisational productivity”. Advantage Business Systems were able to advise them on what options were available to this social enterprise and help them to choose a solution which is right for them. The expected cost savings will in turn result in benefits to the local community to which Spectrum serve. To find out more about Advantage Business Systems and how they can advise you, contact them on 0207 868 1963 or visit their website.
Events 
Bridging the social investment gap: A Co-operatives Fortnight event 1 July London This event, held as part of co-operatives fortnight, will bring together policy, research and practice surrounding co-operative and social enterprise models of business and investment. The day will be split between a morning (10.30am – 12.30pm) and afternoon (1.30pm – 4pm) session. You are welcome to attend either one or both of these. Find out more about the event and book a free place here.
Community shares: the power of engaged equity 7 July London The Community Shares Programme is a two-year action research project investigating how members of the public can invest in enterprises that serve a community purpose. This Community Shares Policy Seminar will bring together the findings from the action research project into community shares led by Locality, Co-operatives UK and the SROI UK Network. The event is free but places are limited. Book your place and view the full event programme on the Locality website.
Resources 
The Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion Do you know someone who’s played an outstanding role in promoting and encouraging business enterprise skills in the UK? Do you think their achievements deserve extra-special recognition? Then nominate them for The Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion – the UK’s most prestigious award for individuals in business. Only ten awards are given out each year, as well as one special Lifetime Achievement award – so competition is fierce. Full details can be found here.
Briefing on the Munro Review of Child Protection The Final Report of the Munro Review of Child Protection, released last month found that local areas should have more freedom to design their own child protection services and that ‘one-size-fits-all approach’ to child protection is preventing local areas from focusing on the needs of the child. Children England has produced a briefing on the Munro Review as part of the Department for Education's Overarching Strategic Partnership which it leads in partnership with the Social Enterprise Coalition, Community Matters, NCVYS, NAVCA and The Race Equality Foundation. It contains a short summary of the report and looks at the implications for the voluntary, community and social enterprise sectors. Download the briefing here.
 Guardian Public Services Awards 2011 Now in their eighth year, the Guardian Public Services Awards celebrate inspiring examples of innovative work being carried out by teams across the public services. Have you made an impact? If you're from a national or local organisation, a statutory, voluntary or for-profit body, then we want to hear about your achievements. As past winners testify, the awards are a great platform to gain recognition on a national scale. You can enter quickly and free of charge at guardian.co.uk/publicservicesawards. The deadline for entries is 15 July 2011.
Member profile  ADP-Projects CIC ADP-Projects CIC (ADP) offers nationwide design and project management services to social enterprises and other third sector groups in order to bring professional design and management skills to community capital development projects. ADP was founded in 2009 and developed from ADP-Projects Ltd, a commercial sister company, which has almost twenty years commercial experience and history. Read a full profile of ADP-Projects CIC on the Social Enterprise Coalition website. www.adp-projects.org.uk.
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