We are here to CONNECT, SUPPORT and PROMOTE social enterprises across North Northamptonshire – Kettering, Corby, Wellingborough, East Northants and the surrounding area.
We are especially keen to show local leaders, decision-makers and our wider community how our way of doing business can help solve the many issues we face nowadays in financially and ethically sustainable ways – to create a healthy planet, healthy people and a healthy economy.
According to Social Enterprise UK there are over 100,000 social enterprises throughout the country contributing £60 billion to the economy and employing two million people.
What is a Social Enterprise?
- A social enterprise is a business (ie an income-earning organisation) which exists to solve a social or environmental issue and ploughs most or all of its profits back to help do this.
- They are found in many sectors such as housing, leisure, health services, transport, energy, media, education and more.
- Social enterprises come in several forms eg community interest companies (CICs), many charities, housing associations, community sports clubs, credit unions and ‘companies limited by guarantee’. Many of our local social enterprises may not even realise that they are one!
- They are independent of the public sector but often work in partnership with local authorities as they have many shared aims.
What can we do for you?
- If you already run a local social enterprise, we can help connect you with other like-minded social entrepreneurs, provide free training opportunities, promote your business and lobby our local leaders to make things easier for you. Click here to get your social enterprise featured.
- If you are thinking of starting a social enterprise, we can inspire and direct you to the support you need.
- If you are a local politician, councillor, officer or key decision-maker, we can show you how social enterprise can improve our communities and give you lots of bang for your buck.
- Or if you are anyone at all interested in learning about your local social enterprises in general – whether a community activist looking for ways to make change happen, a student learning about this great way of doing business, a for-profit business leader looking to learn from our sector and collaborate – we can show you how you can play a part too.
Did you know there are hundreds of social enterprises in North Northants, including Wicksteed Park, Teamwork Trust, Youth Works and Brightwayz, providing many jobs and a great deal of community benefit to and beyond our county? We’re gradually building up profiles of them all to shout about all the good stuff they do. So if you know of any, please ask them to get in touch.
