SOCIAL ECONOMY BRIDGING PROGRAMME EXPLAINED

This is a joint initiative project between Banbridge District Council and Louth County Council and is directed by a steering committee which encompasses the expertise of the Director of Economic Development (Banbridge District Council), the Director of Community & Enterprise (Louth County Council), The Bridge Partnership (Banbridge District Council), Community Forum (Louth County Council), Enterprise Centre (Banbridge), County Enterprise Board (Dundalk), Dundalk Media, Banbridge Pre-School, Holy Family Community Creche and Co-operation Ireland. This project is funded by Interreg IIIA via East Border Region under the EU programme for Peace and Reconciliation and is funded under Measure 3.1, Human Resource Development and re-skilling with additional funding coming from Louth County Council and Banbridge District Council.

Objectives

To deliver bespoke training for groups within the sector specific to the needs of the individual organisations and market segment on a cross border basis

To deliver specialised training in operational and strategic management skills that are not being met by any other key players within the sector

To promote business linkages on a cross border basis through joint marketing strategies i.e organisational networks and clusters

To promote cross border educational programmes for directors, managers, employees and volunteers of social economy enterprises in areas such as childcare and community services

To promote resource allocation on a cross border basis through sharing of policies, procedures, administration and services

To create synergy within the sector on a cross border basis

Criteria

The Social Economy Bridging Programme offers free support to any social economy enterprise or those aspiring to become one. This can be a group, organisation or network, from within the Louth Council area or Banbridge District Council area which act in accordance with the pre-scheduled criteria:

• The enterprise can be derived from a compilation of structures; an employee owned business, Credit Union, co-operative, development trust, community business, social firm, intermediate labour market company or a trading arm.
• The enterprise must have a social, community or ethical purpose and operate or intend to operate using a commercial business model.
• The legal structure of the enterprise must be appropriate to a non-profit-taking status, ideally a company limited by guarantee, which can be with or without a charitable status
• The enterprise must identify and facilitate a market demand or niche within their community whilst maintaining a non displacement. This means it must provide an essential service that is not being provided by a public or private sector agent and that if a similar service is being provided competition shall not cause an effect on existing employment opportunities.
• The enterprise should demonstrate employment creation opportunities from within the community, usually the placement of those which have been distanced from the labour market through long term unemployment.
• The enterprise must adopt a financially sustainable strategy and not rely on funding to maintain their social objectives.

In return for free services provided through the programme, social economy enterprise participants must:

• Demonstrate a commitment to the project by attending either the core Training workshops and/or participating in the Networking/best practice element.
• Have a flexible approach to the programme
• Strive to deliver a positive effect within their own community through addressing social objectives whilst maintaining an economic perspective.

Delivery

The Programme is delivered through a mixture of training, workshops, networking opportunities, best practice visits and mentoring support.

The Training element will be delivered on a cross community and cross-border basis. The workshops are to be hosted in community enterprises and the subject content is derived from the results of individual training needs analysis of each participating groups and delivered by an external training provider.

The training modules are currently being finalised and will be determined as much as possible by the individual training needs of the participating groups but are likely to cover core topics such as Finance, Marketing and Business Planning.

Training sessions will be an opportunity to begin the process of development and change. The specific practical needs of groups will then be supported via a mixture of mentoring support. In house mentoring will be provided by the Development Officer on an on-going basis with specialised mentoring being bought in on an ad hoc basis.

The networking opportunities, best practice visits and residentials will encourage the Directors, managers, employees and volunteers of social economy enterprises to meet and interact with others of a similar social objective who are also striving for economic sustainability within their own enterprises. In a sector with such low profit margins, by learning from the experiences and mistakes of others (finances can be protected and generated).

In addition, the networking process is strengthened through the expertise of the programme steering committee and by the ability of the Development Officer to network with the relevant support structures on a cross-border basis. The networking process will allow participants to access regular updates of news and information relevant to their own objectives.