Social Value UK March Newsletter - Procurement Focus, We're Hiring and more!

March Newsletter 2021

Welcome to the Social Value UK March Newsletter.

We hope you, your colleagues, friends and families are all healthy and well.

Social Value UK are now delivering our most popular training course online; Social Value and SROI Accredited Practitioner Training. If you're interested in taking part, find dates, pricing and more here.

The next course kicks off on April 20th, but you can book our May course too!!

Click here for more info

Social Value and Procurement

This month, we'd like to take a moment to focus on the important relationship between social value and procurement and to highlight some key developments, reading and events in this space.

The Value Toolkit website has been overhauled and contains a great number of resources and information! Find out more here. Join the #ValueToolkit community to be part of the change. Keep an eye out for more info!

UKGBC Framework for Defining Social Value in the Built Environment. Read it here on our blog, or head to their website here for more information on UKGBC’s new framework which addresses the challenge of defining social value in a way which is applicable and useful for all projects and places. Read more.

Are you a public organisation looking to create sustainable impact through public procurement? CLES and Making Spend Matter have developed a Spend Analysis Tool and guide to help you understand how you can harness your procurement spend to make a difference for your place and communities. Learn more here.

You can hear from SVUK Interim CEO Catherine Manning and many other amazing speakers next Friday at Online Conference: Social value and construction. Find out more info here.

Catherine has all penned a fantastic article summarising much of the above, take a read of her piece 'The future of social procurement' on the Social Value UK blog here.

Social Value UK Updates:

Last month we release our reports on the 2020 Social Value UK Members Survey. Download the full report here to inform your learning on our members’ journey with social value through the pandemic.
Social Value UK are proud to announce chapmanbdsp as Social Value Pioneers. Read our full announcement discussion with them here.
Interim CEO Catherine Manning penned a blog for International Women's Day looking at this year's theme: Choose to Challenge. Read more here.
We are in the process of organising the Online Social Value UK Members Exchange 2021. This is a chance for members of the Social Value UK community to come together and share best practice, discuss ideas and drive innovation in the sector.
If you wish to submit a proposal for an idea for a workshop or panel at our Members Exchange, there is a section on the same survey to submit this.

*Please note that if your session proposal compliments another submission we may ask you to co-host a session or join a panel.

Please give us 5 minutes of your time to fill in this survey.

We are hiring! Could you be the next Chief Executive Officer of Social Value UK? Are you passionate about tackling inequality through changing the way society accounts for value? We are looking for a strategic thinker with experience of and a passion for social value and impact management.

Find out more information and apply here.

A new and improved version of the Social Value & Impact Management Exam will launch next week. By completing this exam, you can become a Level 1 Associate Practitioner, the first level on the Practitioner Status Pathway.

Please note you will need to complete the exam and submit your supporting documents by 12th April to receive your results in the upcoming round.

For more information, please contact craig.foden@socialvalueuk.org

Our next Report Assurance round is opening on April 12th!

Our next L1 Associate Practitioner Results round opens on April 19th!

And to prep for in May, our Level 2 Accredited Practitioner and Level 3 Advanced Practitioner rounds are opening on May 10th!

Find out more on all of the above here.

Announcing our first Assurance Coffee Morning and Questions session! Join us to learn more about our services and find out how to get involved with us!

Our first will be looking at Report Assurance and Level 1 Practitioner Applications and will take place on Tuesday, April 6th, 11:30 am-12:30 pm. Register for free here.

Social Value International, of which all SVUK members are a member, will be holding their Annual General Meeting on March 30th. Register here.
UnLtd and the New Economics Foundation (NEF) have published the results of their new study, which reveals how cost-effective social ventures can be. Read their full report on UnLtd's website here.
B Corp Month is an annual, month-long campaign in March for our global B Corp community to celebrate and champion what it is that makes you a B Corp! If you're a B Corp, get involved and download their campaigns toolkit here.

Our friends at Pioneers Post and NatWest are once again seeking the brightest, boldest and most innovative social enterprises for the SE100 list and awards. For more information head here, and keep an eye out for future updates!
Founder of Social Value UK, Jeremy Nicholls has penned a fantastic article for Pioneers Post titled 'The missing piece from Mark Carney's Reith lecture on value', read the full piece here.
'Risk to reputation pressuring nine in 10 UK businesses to become more ethical' Take a read on new research from Opinium and Anthony Collins Solicitors here.
Watch 'Poverty isn't a lack of character; it's a lack of cash' as our featured video of the month.

We are almost at the end of this year's Inspiring Impact Online Roadshow sessions!

The final two online events are focused on VCSE sector organisations in the North East of England:

Session 2: How to gather data – Qualitative or Quantitative? on Thursday 22nd April

Session 3: Working practices and organisational culture on Thursday 20th May

Find out more here.

As mentioned above, we're looking for help in shaping the Social Value UK Members Exchange 2021 using this form.

Introduction to the Social Value UK Membership Team 2021 (Civil Society Sector) Thursday 25th March 11:00 - 12:00 GMT. Register here.

Introduction to the Qualitative Impact Protocol and Causal MapThursday 25th March 2021 14:00 PM – 15:00 PM GMT. Register here.

Environment and Social Value - Food, Waste, and Play Wednesday 31st March 2021 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM BST. Register here.

BSI, IEMA & SVUK: BS 8950 – Guide to Enhancing Social Value Thursday 1st April 2021 12:30 PM – 13:30 PM BST. Register here.

Insight for Good Summit Every Tuesday in May. More information here.

In the midst of the hard reality we all face, and a lot of information thrown at you in this newsletter, we think we all deserve a bit of reprieve!

Below are a few interesting and positive news stories we've seen over the last few weeks:

Watch a video of a penguin jumping in a boat of people to avoid capture here.

Bess, from Last Chance Animal Rescue, in Edenbridge finds new home after ten years! Read more.

Sharks might be scary, but they are also cool. And what's cooler than a regular shark? One that glows in the dark like those star stickers that adorned bedroom walls in the 80s and 90s. Read more.

And in news that will surely benefit us all, the 'Right to repair' law to come in this summer. Read more.

Stay safe and well - Social Value UK

The Social Value UK office is currently closed whilst our staff work from home, if you need to reach any of us, please contact the member of staff you wish to speak to directly via e-mail, if you do not know who you need to speak to or wish to make a general enquiry, please e-mail info@socialvalueuk.org and we will get back to you as soon as we can.

Social Value UK encourages you to take care of yourself physically and mentally during this difficult time.