Edition No. 89 - Thursday 7th April
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Dear ,
SENScot Board met last week – mainly to progress on a number of internal matters that need addressed following Scottish Govt’s decision to cease SENScot’s funding at the end of June. Discussions remain ongoing with other parties – Scottish Govt, Social Enterprise Scotland (SES) and, of course, the SENs. Again, once we have something concrete to share with members, we will do so at the earliest opportunity.
Most notably, John McManus, co-chair of SENScot, stepped down from the board at last week’s meeting. John has been active in our sector over a number of decades and was chair of Social Firms Scotland for many years. In this role, he was actively engaged in the Intermediary Review that led to the merger of Senscot and Social Firms Scotland in July 2020. Following the merger, John took on the role of co-chair of the new merged body – SENScot – jointly with Sophy Green. Together, they led SENScot over the last couple of years. Aside from the various challenges inherent in overseeing a merger, they were also faced with the difficult task of leading the organisation through a period of further uncertainty for staff, trustees and the wider sector as Scottish Govt made it clear that it would only fund a single body to represent the sector. As everyone will know, SENScot was unsuccessful in its bid to fill that role. Throughout this time, John’ s experience and his calm and measured approach was of great benefit. We are grateful for his considerable contribution and, whilst he will be a significant loss to the sector, we wish him the very best for the future. Thanks, John.
The Senscot Story provides a timeline, charting significant milestones and developments across the Scottish SE community over the last couple of decades.
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Community Food SEN members may be interested in the Good Food Nation Day of Action on 26th April 2022 (10am-3pm) at the Scottish Parliament. As the Good Food Nation Bill edges closer to becoming law, the Scottish Food Coalition (SFC) has organised this event as an important opportunity for frontline voices to be heard and to support a final push towards a fairer, healthier and more sustainable food system in Scotland. SCF sees this as not being just about tackling food insecurity – but, by taking whole systems approach, the Bill can also address issues regarding health, environmental sustainability, fair trade, workers’ rights and equity. If you’d be interested in participating, see link above for more details.
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Last month, SENScot hosted a Community-led Tourism Week - which included a series of online conversations that covered the opportunities and barriers faced for local communities. The initiative was part of SENScot’s wider engagement in the Community-led Tourism Pilot. As readers will know, the Pilot, managed by Creetown Initiatives Ltd, provides support to the communities of Brechin and Girvan in developing their respective tourism offers - putting community at the heart of the decision making process. Last week, as part of this work, the community in Girvan launched its new website – Go Girvan.
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In 2020, Scottish Govt published a report on Community Ownership in Scotland. The report stated there were 612 assets owned by 422 community organisations. With uptake clearly being higher in some areas than other, Community Land Scotland, with support from Scottish Govt, has been working to get a better understanding of ‘community land cold spots’. They have now produced this Briefing Paper.
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DTA Scotland (DTAS), yesterday, announced the appointment of Pauline Smith as its new CEO. Pauline is currently CEO at Connect Community Trust in Easterhouse, Glasgow – and will be known to many DTAS members having been active on its board since 2012. Pauline has a strong background in both social and community enterprise as well as having served as the former Chair of the Scottish Community Alliance, Glasgow Empowering Communities Consortium, Total Homes Cooperative and various local and national networks. She will take up post in early July 2022. Big congratulations to Pauline from everyone at
Next Friday – 15th April – is the deadline for applications for the Nature Accelerator Programme. The 6 month programme is fully funded and aimed at early-stage nature-based ideas and enterprises, based in Glasgow, that could create positive environmental, social, or economic change in the city:
The Crown Estate Scotland has awarded grants to nine communities as part of its Sustainable Communities Fund. Awardees include the re-opening of a village shop in Skye; exploring the opportunities for seaweed production to create new jobs in Sutherland; and regenerating a village hall in Easter Ross:
A couple of weeks back, we covered the 20th anniversary of the community buy-out of the Isle of Gigha – highlighting how the last 20 years has seen the island’s population rise from 92 to around 170 – and with the community now owning assets worth over £7m. This week, we pass on our congratulations to the residents of the Isle of Eigg who this week celebrated the 25th anniversary of the community’s offer to buy the island being accepted. In similar fashion to the community of Gigha, Eigg, owned by the Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust, has prospered over the years and set up three subsidiary companies that ,respectively, operate the island Shop and Post Office, Tearoom, Craft Shop; manage the island’s electricity grid; as well as overseeing renovations of all the Trust properties:
In Scotland, it is estimated that over 650,000 people care for a family member, partner or friend, who may be ill, disabled, or dependent on drugs or alcohol. The charity, Shared Care Scotland, offers short breaks that provide a much needed release from the physical and emotional demands of the caring situation and help promote health and wellbeing. Their Creative Breaks programme is now open for applications and provides 12-month grants to third sector organisations to develop and deliver short breaks projects and services for carers of adults (aged 21 years and over), and young carers (caring for children or adults), and the people that they care for. See link for full details. Closing date for applications is Thursday, 19th May 2022 at 5pm:
As many readers will be aware, the SE World Forum 2022 takes place in Brisbane, Australia in September. In advance of this, it appears that our Australian colleagues are in the middle of creating their own National SE Strategy – which will include the emergence of a new umbrella organisation, Social Enterprise Australia:
Glasgow SEN member, Glasgow Wood has produced this short video (1 minute) showing the range of different products and types of timber they have available. Products include a variety indoor and outdoor furniture as well as play and learning products and structures:
West Lothian SEN member, The Larder, currently has a range of vacancies available. These include: Hospitality Lead; Associate Barista; and Associate Trainer – amongst others. See link for full details:
