The West Midlands Social Economy Business Growth programme was aimed at developing the business skills of Social Enterprises, Community Owned Businesses, Cooperatives and Charity Trading Arms to help them grow, become more sustainable and increase the impact they have in addressing inequalities.
This programme was funded by the UK Government and the West Midlands Combined Authority from funds provided from the Commonwealth Games Legacy Fund.
This programme supported 155 Social Economy organisations of various sizes develop the skills and confidence they need to grow, access public sector contracts and social investment.
The programme helped those organisations grow their trading income by almost 50% and create 175 new jobs. This growth is expected to continue beyond the programme with skills and confidence increased by over 25%
"Attending the Social Economy Growth Programme profoundly reshaped my perspective on running a charity. It strengthened my confidence, sharpened my understanding of business development, and inspired me to challenge conventions for greater sustainability. On a personal level, it pushed me beyond my comfort zone, unlocking new possibilities and embracing growth."
The first 6 groups of people who will be helped to develop the skills needed to grow their Social Enterprise. These lucky people will be on the Start programme run by Enterprise Nation & BEC
In addition, WMCA commissioned a series of key business skills workshops called the Social Business Boost programme covering essential subjects such as Marketing, Income Generation, AI and Digital, Financial Management, and Impact Measurement. These were delivered by the School for Social Entrepreneurs and, like the main support programme, saw improvements of 25% or more in skills and confidence in these key topics.
This is just the first phase in a 10-year programme of support that will look deeper into key areas such as Social Investment, Marketing, Social Impact measurement, etc and tackle challenges that are unique to specific sub sectors such as Community owned businesses, Cooperatives, Minority led businesses and other sectors
WMCA also launched its more mainstream Business Growth West Midlands service, which offers a range of business advice, skills, funding and finance options across the region to all sectors – including Social Economy organisations.
Place-based Developments
In addition to growing the social economy at a regional level, WMCA with the support of the Commonwealth Games Legacy funds and Power to Change, invested in specific places where is high levels of deprivation and where social economy activity is evident. 9 locations were identified with the help of Local Authority colleagues, and a lead organisation funded to bring together local stakeholders and the wider community to create an action plan that will be able to grow the local social and circular economy.
Local investment plans are now being submitted to look at actions in each area that will help address local issues and generate inclusive growth.
These places and lead organisations are:
- Birmingham - Perry Common, Wyrley Birch and Erdington – Witton Lodge Community Association
- Birmingham – Digbeth - iSE
- Birmingham - Handsworth - Legacy West Midlands
- Coventry - Foleshill, Hillfields and Wood End – Coventry & Warwickshire CDA
- Dudley – St Thomas’s Quarter, Dudley – Provision House
- Sandwell – West Bromwich town centre - SWEDA
- Solihull – Kingshurst – The Colebridge Trust
- Walsall - Palfrey Ward - Urban Hax
- Wolverhampton – City Centre South – Access2Business
Contact the lead organisation if you live or work in those locations and want to be involved.