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Welcome to our Social Enterprise Page

This page was last updated on Mon 29th Apr 2013
 
'Trading for the benefit of local people,
rather than the benefit of shareholders & owners' RISE website

Click HERE to dowload a report on our Social Enterprise Programme.

Apr 13 - Woody starts making products from felled Larch from the Coppice using their new mobile sawmill (Logosol M8)

Mar 13 - Woody to carry out tree planting and wildflower meadow at Jackhouse Nature Reserve as part of restoration works on the slipway.

 Oct 12 - Woody starts on large woodland thinning contract at the Coppice / Peel Park in Accrington

Oct 12 - One Planet holds it's second birthday party

Jun 12 - Woody carries out first charcoal burn using wood felled alongside the West Accrington Recreation Corridor in March 2011.

Loading the kiln

The kiln cooking away

Apr 12 - Windy, the new wind turbine development group is established.

Apr 12 - Woody volunteers attend and pass a LANTRA Chainsaw training course.
 
Mar 12 - 15 volunteers attend a 2-day beekeeping course at Heaton Park in Manchester.

Mar 12 - Woody carries out selective thinning along West Accrington Recreation Corridor.

Mar 12 - Woody carries out selective thinning at Jackhouse Nature Reserve in Oswaldtwistle.

Mar 12 - Woody (Hyndburn) is incorporated as a Community Interest Company

Oct 11 - Woody volunteers complete intensive chainsaw training week at Beacon Fell Country park

Mar 11 - Woodland enterprise undertakes selective tree thinning along the West Accrington Recreation Corridor.

Nov 10 - Official opening of the One Planet shop. Visit the link to see a film of the day.  One Planet shop official opening video

Oct 10 - The One Planet shop opens.

Oct 10 - Leah Whittaker starts as job share shop manager at One Planet.

Sep 10 - One Planet takes on a shop

Aug 10 - One Planet reaches its Community Share Issue target of £15,000.  Thank you to the 99 individuals and 11 organisations who have made this possible.

Jun 10 - One Planet Share Issue launched.

May 10 - The final four ideas are selected.

  • One Planet Shop
  • A 'Community Benefit' Wind Turbine(s)
  • A Woodland Management Enterprise, and
  • A Local Food Production Enterprise

Also, the programme will continue to support an existing social enterprise, Hyndburn Used Furniture Store.

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About the Programme

This page covers the PROSPECTS Foundation's Social Enterprise Development Initiative.  This programme is funded by the Fair Share Trust and runs until the end of January 2012.

The aim of the programme is for our Social Enterprise Development Officer (Mike Stapleford) to work with residents, groups and service providers within the 5 Fair Share wards of Accrington (namely Central, Church, Spring Hill, Barnfield and Peel) to identify and setup 4 environmentally-themed social enterprises.

What is a Social Enterprise?

Unicorn Grocery Co-op, Chorlton, Manchester

Basically, a social enterprise is a business that like any business has to make a profit to survive.  However, unlike most businesses profit is not the sole aim.  The key aim of our social enterprises is that they must also deliver social and environmental benefits as well.

Also, any of the social enterprise ideas generated under this programme must also fit within one of our six PROSPECTS sustainability themes of:

  • Biodiversity (protecting and enhancing local wildlife and plant life)
  • Energy (home and community energy efficiency and development of renewables)
  • Recycling (identifying more ways of reusing and recycling our waste)
  • Transport (encouraging more use of public transport, bicycles and walking)

  • Food (finding ways of making more local, organic, healthy food, grown by the community for the community)

  • Awareness Raising

 

 

 

 

 

 

PROSPECTS Social Enterprise Development process:

Stage 1

  • The Development Officer works with the community in the Fair Share areas to generate upto 16 potential social enterprise ideas.
  • A 'Social Enterprise Assessment Panel', made up of members from PROSPECTS and representatives from existing Social Enterprises and business will assess the 16 ideas and choose 8 for further development.

Stage 2

  • The 8 ideas are developed further and a 'Sustainability Impact Assessment' (SIA) is completed for each potential enterprise.  The SIA is a tool to assess how each idea delivers all three aims of our social enterprises, namely, being financially viable and delivering social and environmental benefits to the local community.

Stage 3

The 'Assessment Panel' meets again & the final 4 social enterprises are selected.

  • Sep 10 - The first social enterprise is set up.
  • By Jun 11 - The second, third and fourth social enterprises are set up. 

 

How can you get involved? 

If you would like to be involved in a business that provides benefits to the community, want to volunteer or gain experience, give me a call.

For more information about attending events or anything about our Social Enterprise Development programme please contact Mike Stapleford at PROSPECTS on 01254 230348 Extension 205 or e-mail mike.stapleford@prospectsfoundation.org.uk

The PROSPECTS Social Enterprise Development Programme is funded by the Big Lottery Fund through it's Fair Share Trust fund.  This is administered, on behalf of the Big Lottery, by the Community Foundation for Merseyside.