Social Enterprise UK activity Opportunities for social enterprise suppliers at the Social Enterprise Exchange The Social Enterprise Exchange will take place on Tuesday 27th March 2012 at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow. The sell-out annual events Voice and S2S are this year being combined to provide a better-than-ever event for everyone in the growing social enterprise sphere. For further information and to book your stand and delegate places please visit www.socialenterpriseexchange.comThe Social Enterprise Exchange partners are committed to working with as many social enterprise suppliers as possible in the lead up to and on the day of the event. Our ambition is to set a new standard for social enterprise supply-chain engagement. We are looking for social enterprises to outline creative concepts for delivering the following aspects of The Social Enterprise Exchange: - Social Media
- Photography
- Recycling
- Filming
- Delegate bags
- Delegate bag fulfilment
- Promotional Items
- Furniture for Social Enterprise Supply Chain Zone
- Entertainment
- Design and Print
If you are interested in becoming a supplier, please send us a brief proposal about the services you can offer, how you would creatively deliver the service and what your costs would be. Please e-mail your proposals to Lynsey Johnston at eventmanagement@ceis.org.uk by Monday November 28th at 5pm. More information on our requirements is available on The Social Enterprise Exchange website www.socialenterpriseexchange.com/suppliersFor further information on supply chain opportunities please call Lynsey Johnston on 0141 425 2926 or e-mail Lynsey at eventmanagement@ceis.org.uk.
‘Revolutionary’ Public Services Bill gets the green light in the Commons MPs in the House of Commons today voted the Public Services (Social Value) Bill through to the House of Lords, following a three hour debate. If made law, the Public Services Bill would ask that councils commission services from organisations that deliver above and beyond, not by charging the lowest price and over servicing, but by charging a fair price while supporting the boroughs and communities in which they operate. The Government’s annual spend on commissioning and procurement stands at £236 billion Responding to the news, Peter Holbrook, Chief Executive of Social Enterprise UK, said: “We’re delighted that the Bill, backed by the main parties, is through to the Lords. We have been working closely with Chris White and would like to thank our members and supporters who have backed this very important campaign. We hope and believe it will result in a historic breakthrough for those in the social economy.”
Social Enterprise UK relocates to Tooley Street Fire Station Social Enterprise UK has now completed it's move to the Tooley Street Fire Station which is being developed by PwC to become a centre for social enterprise innovation. Our new neighbours include School for Social Entrepreneurs and The Beyond Food Foundation. For the first two weeks we will only have one working phone line so we ask for your patience if you have any difficulty in reaching us - we will get back to you as soon as we can. Our e-mail addresses will all be working as usual.
Almost half of us are cutting gifts and charity giving this Christmas, new survey shows A survey published this week by Social Enterprise UK reveals that adults are tightening their belts this Christmas, and will be spending less on both presents and charitable causes, as money is tight. While 43 per cent of those questioned for the poll intend to cut back on the good causes they support, an even greater number - 48 per cent - say they’ll be spending less on Christmas presents for family and friends this year. We're telling people that they can kill two birds with one stone if they buy their Christmas presents from social enterprises – businesses that exist to make a difference, and reinvest their profits to support environmental and social causes. Social Enterprise UK’s drive to promote Xmas-shopper awareness of social enterprise is part of the Society Profits campaign. News 
London's unemployed 'cycle into work' with support from Barclays Hundreds of disadvantaged Londoners will have the opportunity to find employment with the help of ‘Cycle into Work’, a community investment programme supported by Barclays. The scheme, conceived and developed by London based social enterprise Bikeworks, uses the power of cycling to help homeless people develop key skills to secure a job.
 Social Firms UK appoints new Chief Executive The Social Firms UK Board has appointed Michele Rigby as the organisation’s new Chief Executive. Michele is currently Chief Executive of SEEE, the East of England’s social enterprise support agency and will take up the post from January 2012. Michele replaces Sally Reynolds, co-founder of Social Firms UK and its Chief Executive since 2004, who decided to leave due to exceptional personal circumstances.
GVI announced as Best Volunteering Organisation for 2011 According to the award committee: "GVI impressed the judges with the scale of their impacts on the ground. Placing 3,500 volunteers each year in 40 countries, GVI teaches over 10,000 people each year on six continents. And for GVI the proof of their work is in the performance of their students - in Guatemala their students were in the top 5% nationally examined in 2011 - proving that well-placed skilled volunteers can have genuine impacts. Their charitable trust already estimates £400,000 will be raised for their projects this year alone." Submit your news stories to appear on the Social Enterprise UK website by completing the online form.
Events Gearing up for Community Hubs29 November London Taking over community resource centres and finding ways to make them operate efficiently, meet community needs and benefit a wide range of service users is a huge challenge for the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector. NCVYS invites you to hear how this has, and is, being done by the League of British Muslims in the London Borough of Redbridge and Rainbow Centre Users Group in the London Borough of Barnet. A representative from the Ethical Property Foundation will also be on hand to help delegates through the technical issues within the process, and to look at the current ‘premises needs’ of the VCSE sector. There is no cost to join this session. This is a free event. To register a place, please request a booking form from takita@ncvys.org.uk. Completed booking forms must be submitted by Thursday 24th November. If you have any questions, please contact Jarina Choudhury on 020 7843 6453 or e-mail jarina@ncvys.org.uk.
Winning Business Event 30 November London This event is brought to you by the Crisis Ethical Enterprise & Employment (3xE) Network with support from Social Enterprise UK. It will provide social enterprises with the opportunity to explore the way in they can compete for and win contracts and enter into supply chains. There will be learning through workshops and opportunities to learn from best practice through networking and case studies. There will also be opportunity to propose questions to a panel from the private, public and voluntary sector organisations and experts in the field. Confirmed speakers: - Richard Litchfield – Eastside Consulting/3SC
- Sian Thomas – TCUK
- Sara McGinley – Social Firms UK
This is a FREE event funded by the Crisis Ethical Enterprise & Employment (3xE) Network To book a place or for more information please contact Cathrine Gillard on 020 7426 8500 or email 3xE@crisis.org.uk.
Forum3’s new Fundraising and Social Enterprise Zone
25 - 25 May London Forum3, the UK’s largest recruitment and volunteering event for the not-for-profit sector, returns to the Business Design Centre 25-26 May next year. Attracting 10,000 job seekers looking for paid or volunteering work, forum3 provides a first class opportunity to showcase your organisation and meet candidates face to face to fulfil your recruitment needs in our new dedicated Social Enterprise zone. Forum3 has a highly diverse audience, all who are committed to the principles of working for a value led organisation and making a difference in society. Forum3 is well supported by its partners who include Social Enterprise UK as well as The Guardian, The Big Issue, Jobsgopublic, Inside Housing, NCVO, Opportunities and of course, the Institute of Fundraising. 
Resources Deloitte Social Innovation Pioneers programme offers free business support to social enterprises Social Enterprise UK is partnering with Deloitte, the professional services firm, to deliver an exciting new programme that will showcase and support up to 50 of the best social businesses and innovations across the UK. Launching this week, the Deloitte Social Innovation Pioneers programme is looking for 50 inspiring entrepreneurs and social businesses, who have the potential for growth and a desire to make a positive impact in society. The selected organisations will receive a bespoke package of support in order to help them achieve scale and become investment ready. Together with Deloitte we believe in the potential of this sector to become an important and mainstream economic player, and we encourage anyone who meets the application criteria to apply for this fantastic programme. First-round applications are open now until 28th January and the finalists will be announced in March 2012.
Social Enterprise Graduate Academies 2012 Social enterprises are being invited to sign up to provide a three month internship for 100 underemployed graduates passionate about the sector. The Spring Project, a not-for profit organisation, will attract and provide training to 200 suitable graduates from which 100 self-select on to a week long academy. With its world class network of practitioners, The Spring Project then delivers experiential and project based personal development training. Half of the academy graduates are then selected and matched for internships. All process red-tape of the internships is managed by The Spring Project, removing any administration burden from the social enterprise.
New Business Link services launched
Business Link has launched two new online services, one aimed at people looking to start a business, and the other aimed at people looking to grow and improve their business. These services have been developed as a direct result of Business Link research undertaken to understand what businesses want and how their needs can be best served online. The Start-Up Service offers support through the stages of setting up a business. It provides guidance for securing funding and helps entrepreneurs to research target markets, develop business plans and understand taxes and legal obligations. The Growth and Improvement Service offers businesses access to informative videos, case studies, events and business support finders and the chance to network and share ideas with other business owners.
Member profile Dream Idea is an online platform and community helping entrepreneurs, inventors and people with business ideas to turn their dream ideas into reality through expert advice and investors. The site allows you to register your ideas for a cost of £1 and then create an idea profile to try to catch the eye of investors. New business ideas are organised into categories to all members, including investors, to browse concepts by areas of interest, meaning users can input opinion, expertise or funding to what they are truly passionate about. Check out the latest social enterprise job vacancies on our Jobs Board. These currently include | 
