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Welcome to the Social Value UK March Newsletter!
We hope you, your colleagues, friends and families are all healthy and well.
We've got a lot to share with our subscribers this month, but first a message from our CEO, Isabelle Parasram:
Have you signed up for our 'Levelling Up' discussion?
We want to know...
- Are you satisfied with the choice of the 12 missions?
- Do you think the Government’s plans adequately address the inequalities experienced as a result of the pandemic?
- Who should own and define what success looks like?
Please send in your thoughts, be it a quote/video/audio clip, to info@socialvalueuk.org. We want to hear what you have to say!
Contract for Change has been RELAUNCHED
We are delighted to be re-launching the Contract for Change programme alongside our Strategic Partners Value Match. The programme is focused on collaboratively developing principles based practice in social value in commissioning and procurement.
For more information and to express your interest, head over to our blog.
Top 100 Women in Social Enterprise:
We wanted to take some time to celebrate our Operations Director, Catherine Manning, who has been recognised by #WISE100 as one of the top 100 women in Social Enterprise. She has also been shortlisted for the #WISE100 Star of the Future award.
Huge congratulations, Catherine. This recognition is well deserved and we are so proud to have you on our team!
Training:
We still have some booking availability for our April, May & June training dates! This course tends to fill up fast so make sure to sign up ASAP to guarantee spaces.
Assurance:
Applying for Level 1 Associate Practitioner status is an excellent way to gain a professional qualification and begin your journey in the social value space. As a result, we have made the decision to accept applications for this at any time - meaning you can start whenever suits you! More info here.
*If you have completed our Social Value & SROI Practitioner training course within the last 3 months, you are eligible for a discount - reach out to info@socialvalueuk.org for more details!*
Our next application round is for Report Assurance. This will run from March 28th - April 8th, so make sure to get your applications in for our team!
As usual, if you have any questions for the team regarding the assurance & accreditation process, pop in to our next 'Assurance Coffee Morning & Questions' session on March 22nd. Our team will be happy to advise you!
Hiring Opportunity:
Connect Fund is looking for a new Connect Fund Manager. This is a unique role, leading the Connect Fund and delivering its key aim of strengthening the social investment market to better meet the needs of charities and social enterprises. Find out more over on their website.
Community Business Climate Opportunity:
Power to Change have advertised an invitation to tender for a research project to better understand and generate insights on the benefits, barriers, opportunities and potential of community business-led approaches in the transition to a fairer, greener economy. This forms part of our strategic commitment to put the climate crisis at the heart of every decision that Power to Change makes. More info here.
Events
Our friends at Social Audit Network are hosting a free virtual roadshow event “An introduction to social accounting and audit” on April 27th.
Join SAN directors for a journey through the process of social accounting and audit, and hear from people in organisations just like yours who use social accounting to capture their impact.
If you have any future opportunities you'd like to share with our network, send them in to info@socialvalueuk.org.
- Supply Change are hosting a Social Procurement Festival on the 23rd/24th of March, where policymakers, buyers and social enterprise leaders will learn and share best practices for social enterprise procurement and social value activities. The theme this year centres around collaborating to build inclusive and impactful supply chains. Look our for our Operations Director, Catherine Manning, who will be speaking on the Social Value Model and the gov Levelling up agenda.
- In 2021, we participated in an OECD-sponsored, EU-funded Peer Learning Partnership on Stakeholder Engagement, alongside orgs from 13 countries. We are excited to share best practices & case studies that have developed - check out this video.
- This month Social Value International have been holding #BeyondESG Month!
Join them in their final sessions to explore how to evolve the ESG agenda to ensure that people and planet are consistently respected and valued. If you haven't already, you can get your tickets here.
- Our How Do Companies Act campaign group met last week to discuss how we can increase our reach. Our ultimate goal is re-writing sections of the Companies Act but also to work collaboratively on other areas of legislation that can ‘hardwire’ social and environmental impacts into business decision making through better governance, accounting, and reporting. Find out more about our mission here.
- Social Value Strategic Workshop for Members March 22nd @ 9:00am - 11:30am As part of your SVUK membership, all organisation members are invited to join a Social Value Strategic Workshop. These workshops aim to demystify social value and the landscape of tools and approaches available.
Organisational Members ONLY
- Assurance Coffee Morning & Questions Tuesday 22nd March @ 11:30am - 12:30pm If you are in the process of applying for Assurance/Accreditation with SVUK, or just want to learn more about it - get some answers to your questions at our drop in session on 22nd March!
- What Does it Mean to be 'Levelled Up' in Britain? Thursday 31st March @ 12:00pm - 1:30pm As you may know, Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove has unveiled the government’s flagship Levelling Up White Paper. On March 31st, join our CEO as she chairs an expert guest panel to discuss the question 'What Does it Mean to be Levelled Up in Britain?' and debate this White Paper in more detail
- Introduction to Social Value UK Friday 1st April @ 11:00am - 11:45am If you've been debating SVUK membership, then this is the session for you! Drop in to meet with our Membership manager and learn a little bit more about us & how we can help you!
- Member Coffee Morning Tuesday 12th April @ 10:30am - 11:30am Our Member Coffee mornings have proven to be a hit so far. Make sure to join us on April 12th for the opportunity to meet with other like minded individuals and discuss the opportunities/challenges you face in your social value journeys.
- A decade of ‘Inspiring Impact’, what’s next? Wednesday 27th April @ 1:30pm - 3:10pm After a decade of supporting voluntary orgs to improve their impact practice, Inspiring Impact is coming to a close. SVUK will be convening a listening event on April 27th, so that we can hear directly from VCSE sector orgs about their wants & needs in relation to impact management.
At the end of our Newsletters, we always like to highlight some positive news:
This month our very own National Civil Society Lead, Nicola Lynch, achieved Level 3 Advanced Practitioner status! As part of her application, Nicola worked with Recycling Lives to evaluate their SROI and shared her thoughts on the whole experience with us. Read in full here.
Great work Nicola, this is an amazing achievement!
Congratulations are also in order for Keepmoat Homes who have earned Level 1 of the Social Value Management Certificate.
Finally we are excited to welcome Action Sustainability as Social Value Pioneers! Make sure to check out their announcement blog to see all of the amazing work they are doing in the social value space!
That's all from us - March round up over and out!
As always, if you have any Q's for our team or want to share your news with us, we are just an email away - info@socialvalueuk.org!
Best wishes,
The Social Value UK Team
