Social Economy

• What is the Social Economy?
• What is Social Enterprise?
• Wrexham Social Economy Project
• Social Mapping
• Social Economy in Wrexham Succession Strategy Report
• What is the Social Enterprise Toolkit?
• Wrexham Social Economy Support Directory
• Social Enterprise Training
• Social Enterprise Visits Programme
• Wrexham Social Economy Network (WSEN)
• Wrexham Social Accounting & Audit Cluster Support Programme
• Further Information

What is the Social Economy?

The Social Economy includes the many and varied organisations that work outside the private and the public sectors. It includes voluntary organisations, community groups, self-help groups, community co-operatives and enterprises, religious organisations, and other non-profit distribution organisations of benefit to communities and people in Wales.

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What is a Social Enterprise?

A social enterprise is a business with primarily social purposes. Like any business, it aims to generate surpluses, but it seeks to reinvest those surpluses principally in the business or in the community, to enable it to deliver on its social objectives. It is, therefore, not simply a business driven by the need to maximise profit to shareholders or owners.

There is no single legal model for social enterprise. They include Community Interest Companies (CICs), companies limited by guarantee, industrial and provident societies, and companies limited by shares; some organisations are unincorporated and others are registered charities.

Social enterprises are involved in a range of activities and can take many forms including credit unions, co-operatives, social firms, social businesses, community businesses, intermediate labour market companies, and development trusts.

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Wrexham Social Economy Project

The Wrexham Social Economy Project existed as an ESF Objective 3 funded initiative, partnered by the Association of Voluntary Organisations in Wrexham (AVOW) and Wrexham County Borough Council (WCBC). The team was made up of Nicola Millar, the Social Economy Manager and Sasha Hughes, the Social Economy Development Officer.

The project, which ended on 31st March 2006, was in place to develop a culture of social entrepreneurship in Wrexham, to encourage social enterprises to thrive. This was done through raising awareness of social enterprise, and providing a guidance and sign-posting service to existing and potential social enterprises.

The main focus was to prove the need for social enterprise support in Wrexham.

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Social Mapping

The main focus of the Social Economy Project was to prove the need for social enterprise support in Wrexham. A mapping exercise was conducted in order to establish the current levels of community and social enterprise activity in Wrexham County Borough. Through this exercise the project identified gaps in provision, barriers faced by organisations, and the level of support needed by those groups to help them in generating their own income and moving away from grant dependency.

A baseline information report called the Social Economy in Wrexham Succession Strategy report is available detailing the results.

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What is the Social Enterprise Toolkit?

The Social Economy Project, in partnership with Liverpool Plus, produced a step-by-step guide to starting and running a social enterprise, which is available free of charge to community organisations in Wrexham. 

The Manual for Developing Social Enterprises is available to download or alternatively a hardcopy or CD ROM version can be obtained from AVOW. (Tel: 01978 312556).

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Wrexham Social Economy Support Directory

The Wrexham Social Economy Support Directory lists local, regional and national support organisations relevant to social enterprise, community and voluntary organisations.

If you would like to be included in this directory as a support organisation, or to update your existing entry, please contact AVOW on 01978 312556 or email info@avow.org.

Wrexham Social Economy Support Directory

This document is available to download in the following format:

Wrexham Social Economy Support Directory - PDF format 728Kb

Wrexham Social Economy Support Directory Booklet

This document is available to download in the following format:

Wrexham Social Economy Support Directory Booklet - PDF format 614Kb

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Social Enterprise Training

Social Enterprise Awareness Training sessions were piloted throughout 2005 covering subjects such as funding, appropriate legal structures for social enterprises, business planning, marketing, cash flow forecasting, and social audit and accounts.

“As a person who usually avoids class room situations, this has given me some confidence to attend similar courses, learning events.  I feel full credit should be given to the tutors and there is a definite need for this to be expanded upon.”

Number of sessions held: 5
Number of attendees: 56

Sessions will continue to run for organisations based in rural Wrexham as identified by the Northern Marches Cymru wards.  For more information or to book a place please contact Bob Haynes on 01978 366366.

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Social Enterprise Visits Programme

This programme allowed those setting up or interested in social enterprise the opportunity to visit similar enterprises either locally or further afield.  It provided a unique way of exchanging experiences, promoting learning and sharing good practice.  Those with an idea for a social enterprise were able to view a real model of a similar project and get a feel for how their idea would look when it becomes a reality.

“Very interesting to see how other organisations are working, many ideas on how to improve.”

Number of sessions held: 7
Number of attendees: 62

This free programme remains open to organisations based in rural Wrexham.  For further information or to book a visit please contact Bob Haynes, Northern Marches Cymru’s Social Business Counsellor, on 01978 366366.

Social Enterprise Visits Programme Application Form

This document is available to download in the following format:

Social Enterprise Visits Programme Application Form - PDF format 47Kb

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Wrexham Social Economy Network (WSEN)

WSEN existed as a quarterley networking event providing:

• Relevant information from guest speakers, such as presentations from social entrepreneurs, training providers, funding advisers and social auditors
• Information on current funding and training opportunities
• The opportunity to network over a free lunch, meeting with others in the same sector, sharing best practice and perhaps even business
• A quarterley newsletter compiled by the Social Economy Team;
• A Wrexham Social Economy Support Directory, listing local, regional and national support available
• Emailed news updates on important issues
• Free entry into a Member's directory.

Membership was free and open to existing and potential social enterprises, but also to anybody otherwise involved in the social economy in the Wrexham County Borough.

"Raises the profile and is an excellent opportunity to network"

"Very good event looking forward to the next"

"Worthwhile and informative event"

"Sorry I had to leave early, I found this to be the best most useful event to date"

Number of sessions held: 5
Number of attendees: 252

For information on the future of WSEN please contact Sandra Hughes at AVOW on 01978 312556.

Wrexham Social Economy Network Newsletter

These newsletters are available to download in the following format:

Wrexham Social Economy Network Newsletter - March 2006 - PDF format 1.2Mb

Wrexham Social Economy Network Newsletter - December 2005 - PDF format 1.5Mb

Wrexham Social Economy Network Newsletter - August 2005 - PDF format 936Kb

Wrexham Social Economy Network Newsletter - May 2005 - PDF format 1.0Mb

Wrexham Social Economy Network Newsletter - February 2004 - PDF format 854Kb

Wrexham Social Economy Network Briefing Notes

These briefing notes are available to download in the following format:

Wrexham Social Economy Network Briefing Notes - February 2006 - PDF format 5.7Mb

Wrexham Social Economy Network Briefing Notes - November 2005 - PDF format 36Kb

Wrexham Social Economy Network Briefing Notes - July 2005 - PDF format 33Kb

Wrexham Social Economy Network Briefing Notes - April 2005 - PDF format 38Kb

Wrexham Social Economy Network Briefing Notes - December 2004 - PDF format 62Kb

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Wrexham Social Accounting & Audit Cluster Support Programme

Following interest raised from the third WSEN event, Social Accounting, Audit and Reporting, back in July 2005, the Wrexham Social Economy Project is sponsoring Wrexham’s first Social Accounting & Audit Support Cluster.

Social Accounting is a process that enables an organisation to assess, report, and improve on its social, economic, community and environmental strengths and limitations rather than its financial ones. The aim being to gather each stakeholder group’s views and perspectives on what they consider to be the significant indicators as to how well, or not, the organisation is achieving its aims and objectives.

Social Accounting is:

• Done from the inside, with and by the people involved, increasing a sense of ownership of the process, outcomes, and resultant targets and recommendations.
• Approached from "the bottom up" as opposed to the usual "top down" method.
• Part of an ongoing process rather than being done after the event.
• A positive process.

Preparing a set of social accounts is done by assessing and monitoring the views of all the organisation’s stakeholders.  This includes employees, clients, service users, funders, volunteers, and service deliverers.  In fact any person or organisation that has an interest or investment, or who can effect or is affected by the organisation.

The social accounting process is usually co-ordinated by a key person within the organisation. Using the aims and objectives of the organisation as the starting point and through liaison with other stakeholders in the organisation, this co-ordinator designs, analyses and documents all the information collected during the accounting process. Allowing all stakeholders to have a say in the process ensures inclusivity, however not all organisations can or wish to include all stakeholders every time a set of social accounts is produced. If the undertaking is too large for example, it is perfectly acceptable to defer a group of stakeholders until the next time the process is carried out, as long as this is explained in the accounts and details provided of when the stakeholders will be included. Information can be collected through a variety of methods including surveys, questionnaires, workshops, focus groups, and case studies.

It is important to recognise that social accounting and audit is not a one-off process. It is often done in 12-month cycles resulting in the establishment of social book-keeping and annual social audit reports providing valid information on the organisation’s performance against its social objectives.

These reports can then be used in the organisation’s strategic planning process to enhance performance and improve social impact. In addition, making the results of the accounting and audit publicly available, including both successes and limitations, requires a commitment to openness and accountability, thereby increasing the accountability of the organisation to all its stakeholders. Social accounts are also a valuable starting point when applying for quality marks and an effective tool for marketing and promotion and in proving the impact of the organisation to funders.

Each organisation can tailor the social accounts to fit their own needs.

Social Audit

Although social accounts are generated by the organisation themselves, a fully independent external facilitator or panel is usually used to verify the accuracy and objectivity of the accounts by way of a social audit.

The audit results in a systematic, documented measurement of the social performance of the organisation, which allows targets to be set to improve this performance and ensures that progress is consistent with the expectations of the stakeholders and the aims of the organisation.

Wrexham’s Cluster

The Social Audit Network (SAN), is taking a cluster of local organisations through the support programme, with a series of workshops. By working in a cluster organisations can support each other through the process. 

Organisations on the programme are:

• AVOW (lead body)
• Dee Valley Community Partnership
• CRNCA Ltd
• Plas Madoc Communities First Ltd
• Caia Park Partnership Ltd

Following this training, each of the organisations on the programme could chose to pass on what they have learnt. It is hoped that this cluster will have a snowball effect, and in time will see many organisations proving and improving on their work.

The organisations carrying out the reporting process may or may not choose to have their prepared accounts officially audited, at the end of the programme.

For further information about Wrexham's Social Accounting & Audit Cluster please contact:

Sandra Hughes at AVOW on 01978 312556

For general information about Social Accounting & Audit please contact:

Info@cbs-network.org.uk
www.socialauditnetwork.org.uk

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Further Information

For information on any of the above please contact:

Business Development & Enterprise Unit
Bersham Enterprise Park
Plas Grono Road
Rhostyllen
Wrexham
LL14 4EG

Tel: 01978 366366
Email: business@wrexham.gov.uk ; or

AVOW
Ty AVOW
21 Egerton Street
Wrexham
LL11 1ND

Tel: 01978 312556
Email: info@avow.org