	Front Page
	London's Young People Act to Save the Planet
	London's Warming
	Support for Ethnic Minority Businesses
	Equality Impact Workshop at GOL
	Time to Deliver - Social Enterprise Support Srategy revealed
	Idea Store - the future of urban libraries

GOL Web Site

Comment/Queries?

Time to Deliver - Social Enterprise Support Strategy Unveiled

Key social enterprise and funding bodies from across the capital recently came together to launch an innovative social enterprise business support strategy.

Social enterprises are businesses that trade in order to bring people and communities together for economic development and social gain. Examples include credit unions, development trusts, employee-owned and community businesses. They help to increase people's employability by giving them opportunities to acquire valuable skills in stimulating work environments and are vital in the Government's plans to tackle social exclusion. Government Office for London plays a vital role in promoting new social enterprises as a means of regenerating areas across the capital.

'Time to Deliver: A Social Enterprise Business Support Strategy for London' was unveiled at the Globe Theatre to an audience of over 250 social enterprise champions, social entrepreneurs, business executives and politicians. The new strategy, launched by the Minister for Trade and Industry Stephen Timms, provides a comprehensive and dynamic approach to building up and funding support from mainstream businesses for social enterprises and financing enterprises.

The strategy was developed by the London Social Economy Taskforce, which brings together London's key social economy players including the Government Office for London, London Development Agency, Business Link for London, the Association of London Government, and the group's chair organisation Social Enterprise London.

Minister Stephen Timms commented, "The strategy for London marks an important step forward in developing a co-ordinated approach to support for social enterprise at a regional level. The strategy is the first integrated scheme of its kind in the UK. I hope that we will see similar support networks created across the country".

The strategy includes a programme of quality standards for support services and the continuing development of a Social Enterprise Knowledge Centre. The strategy also has plans for the implementation of a number of innovative projects designed to harness social enterprise opportunities within specific industry groups and across the voluntary and public sectors.

Liz Meek, Regional Director of Government Office for London, added "In London we have 10 New Deal for Communities programmes all working to tackle multiple deprivation in London's most deprived neighbourhoods. We will be actively encouraging them to look at setting up new social enterprises within their communities as a way of providing much needed services and training opportunities for excluded groups and their committees".

Further Information

For more information please contact Eileen Gay, telephone 020 7217 3200.