Children and Young People Social Enterprise Network
Welcome to the Children and Young People Social Enterprise Network, an online information portal for CYP organisations that are starting-up, growing or moving to a social enterprise model, or interested in the social enterprise sector.
The Network brings together two Department for Education (DfE) funded programmes, the Overarching Strategic Partnership (OAP) and the Catalyst Consortium.
Events, workshops and training opportunities
An Enterprising Future
Under the OAP, Social Enterprise UK will be delivering another "Enterprising Future" event in association with Social Enterprise West Midlands, at Birmingham social enterprise Enta CIC, on Tuesday 28th February 2012.
An Enterprising Future is designed for social enterprise start-ups and VCO organisations looking to move to a social enterprise model within children and young people's services. The day will include social enterprise inspiration, with speakers and experts from the sector, practical workshops on topics such as business planning, contracts and finance, as well as the opportunity to sit down for a one-to-one session with a specialist social enterprise business advisor.
You can register for An Enterprising Future here. For enquiries, email holly.brereton@socialenterprise.org.uk.
Social Enterprise UK and Community Matters hosted the first of these events in London in November 2011, bringing together a myriad of social enterprise start-ups and VCO organisations in the CYP sector looking to move to a social enterprise model.
The day began with a number of inspirational talks from CYP sector leaders including June O'Sullivan, London Early Years Foundation, and Debbie Stephens, Fun 4 Kidz.
- Read a blog on the event written by Sam from Social Enterprise UK.
- Head over to the V Inspired webpage for an engaging piece on the event by an attendee.
- Download the workshop presentations on Accessing and Securing Finance, Evaluating Your Impact, and Securing Public Sector Contracts.
Replication in Action
Are you a charity or social enterprise working with young people? Has your organisation been working in the youth sector for more than two years and now looking to grow? Do you have a service you feel is replicable in other areas of the UK? Do you have at least two members of staff and the capacity to invest time and resources to replicating what you do?
Under Catalyst, Social Enterprise UK are delivering a “Replication in Action” programme, which aims to work with youth organisations on an intensive and practical basis over a period of nine months to develop their business model so that it can be successfully franchised or licensed.
The programme will include a series of workshops, masterclasses and expert coaching sessions starting from March 2012, and will support youth organisations to:
- Make an informed assessment as to whether or not franchising/licensing is the most appropriate model for growing their organisations, and if this is the case,
- Develop a pilot franchise or licence package
For more information on how you can get involved, contact holly.brereton@socialenterprise.org.uk.
Business support guidance
‘An Enterprising Future’ guide
This new guide gives practical advice on accessing finance, winning public sector contracts, business planning, and evaluating impact. It also includes the case studies of four successful social enterprises delivering children and young people’s services across England. Click here to download.
*NEW* Youth organisation social franchising manual
Are you a youth organisation looking to replicate your model and your work? Under Catalyst, Social Enterprise UK has produced a practical manual for youth organisations looking to grow and strengthen their impact through social franchising. This how-to guide provides a general introduction to replication, and explains how to decide on a suitable approach for your organisation, as well as taking readers through the practical steps required for putting replication into action... Take a look!
IT Support
As part of the Department for Education’s overarching strategic partnership, i-trust (part of the Cover Group), in association with Children England, are opening a free IT helpdesk for voluntary, community and social enterprise sector organisations that work with children, young people and families. The helpdesk will be able to give advice and guidance on IT/ICT matters as well as 1st Tier IT support.
The IT support can be accessed in two ways. To speak to an adviser, call the helpline on 0800 028 0085. This will be available from 09:00 to 16:00 Mondays to Fridays, excluding Public and Bank Holidays. Any calls outside of the core hours will be dealt with when the helpdesk is next open. Alternatively, you can use the dedicated email address: support@i-trust.org.uk. Support requests by email will be dealt with, where possible, by next working day but within 3 working days.
Keep up-to-date
Upcoming Events from our OAP partners:
Children England are running a number of workshops and seminars for frontline VCSE Organisations focused on, or interested in working with children and young people.
- Improving Outcomes Through Extra-Curricular Activities (2) – FREE
This training and seminar will support school staff and voluntary and community sector providers to increase the range and quality of extra-curricular activities (ECA) offered to pupils aged 5 to 14 years.VCS organisations will have the opportunity to showcase their contributions to a wide range of high-quality extra-curricular activities. A key focus for these seminars will be the opportunity to share practice by meeting with and learning from other colleagues working in the same arena - 1st February 2012 (9:30am to 3:30 pm) / Coventry, 8th February 2012 (9:30am to 3:30pm) / London
- Your Workforce, Their Future / South West - FREE
A seminar that focuses on the key workforce areas identified as current priorities within our sector: Integrated working, Leadership and management, and Higher level skills- Derby on Tuesday 28th February and London on Thursday 1st March.
- South East Families Network - Payment by Results Event / Guildford - FREE
An event to explore Payment by Results and its implications for the VCS in the South East - 28th February 2012 (10am - 2.00pm)
For more information, click on the links above or contact Children England on 020 7833 3319.
The Community Matters Consultancy Roadshow is taking place across five areas over January and February 2012. These are:
- 30th Jan - 3rd Feb: Leicester
- 6th – 10th Feb: Leeds
- 13th – 17th Feb: Manchester/Liverpool
- 20th – 24th Feb: Birmingham/Taunton
For more information see the Community Matters website.
More resources
Below are further resources, downloadable materials and blogs:
- Ólöf Jónsdóttir, our very own Policy and Public affairs manager here at Social Enterprise UK, looks at the opportunities and challenges of changing your business model - Toughing it out in voluntary youth services: how a social enterprise approach can help
- June O'Sullivan, CEO of London Early Years Foundation, has her own blog - a great read for an insight into the CYP sector from a social enterprise perspective.
- Downloadable support resources are available via Children England.
- The CYP Now website has a useful resources page.
Do you keep a blog about your experiences as a CYPF organisation? Are you a social enterprise that works in the CYPF sector? If you would like to list your resources page and/or blog here, please send an email to Holly Brereton at holly.brereton@socialenterprise.org.uk.
Youth Organisations Enterprise Leaders Programme
As part of Catalyst, Social Enterprise UK and Real Partners CIC are delivering the “Youth Organisations Enterprise Leaders Programme”, which is designed specifically to explore the essential requirements of leading an effective, innovative and successful youth social enterprise.
The course will start with a two-day Enterprise (14-15 March), followed by a one-day Leadership Excellence Workshop on 19 April. These days will be complemented by One-to-One coaching sessions and networking events. Participants will have the opportunity to hear from leaders in the youth and social enterprise sectors, as well as learning and growing alongside like-minded peers.
For the course brochure, please click here.
Please note that due to overwhelming interest, applications for the first Youth Organisations Leadership Programme, starting in March 2012, have now closed.
A second cohort will run later in the year, and expressions of interest can be made by returning an application form to leadership@socialenterprise.org.uk.
Sign up to the Social Enterprise UK newsletter
Receive our electronic newsletter for updates about these programmes, as well as policy briefings and event notifications.
As the programme develops, this Network page will be populated with:
- Business support guidance
- News about events workshops, surgeries and training opportunities
- The chance to network with organisations doing similar work
- Best practice examples of social enterprises providing children and young people’s services
The Children and Young People Social Enterprise Network is being delivered by Social Enterprise UK as part of the Department for Education’s Overarching Strategic Partnership programme, focused on sharing and supporting best practice social enterprise models in the children and young people’s sector. The programme is led by Children England, working with Community Matters, NCVYS, NAVCA, The Race Equality Foundation and Social Enterprise UK.
