Ministers have this week released a statement announcing a brand new employment programme for severely disabled people . ‘Work Choice" will be introduced in October and will sit alongside the Work Programme. It aims to help people who face the most complex and long term barriers into employment.
The MoJ's National Offender Management Service (NOMS) has announced two new funding opportunities (each totalling £200k) for social enterprises in England to develop creative approaches to service delivery.
If you are a Social Firm that provides care services for adults in England, you may be eligible to receive a grant of up to £20,000 in order to Improve ICT access for your users and staff. The third cycle of the Get Connected Investment project is now open for applications.
Private and voluntary sector adult social care providers offering services in England and registered with either the Care Quality Commission, Companies House, Financial Services Authority or Charity Commission are eligible to apply.
We have been alerted to a scam that is being directed to Social Firms and Small Social Enterprises – John Charles of Catering2order was targeted this morning.
Update: On 30 July 2010 Dee-Tex received a similar call - this time the scammers claimed to work for Chester Police with a similar offer.
Finding a job at the moment is hard enough and if you’re disabled or have a mental health problem it’s even more difficult. Making the leap from relying on benefits to getting a full time job is often simply unrealistic. But part-time work can help to build up skills, confidence and a work record to show to future employers. It also raises the self esteem that comes with earning a wage.
NOMS (National Offender Management Service) is asking the social enterprise sector to develop innovative approaches to delivering key services.
Bids will be invited for funding to help develop and test approaches for supervising offenders in Unpaid Work (Community Payback).
Social enterprises are also being asked to develop training and employment opportunities within green technology or other sustainable industries.
The government is calling on Social Firms to help it get hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people into work. Our CEO, Sally Reynolds, is featured in Social Enterprise Magazine (online edition) discussing work with the government to create employment for the most vulnerable people in the labour market. Sally is the only social enterprise representative in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Social Inclusion Advisory group and is therefore ideally placed to ensure the Social Firm sector is well positioned in the move to job creation, rather than job placement.
CEO of Social Firms UK Sally Reynolds has been made a member of the Department for Work and Pensions social inclusion advisory group- the only representative of the social enterprise sector.
The new Coalition Government is 'desperate' for job creation initiatives and is working with Social Firms UK to ensure that there is''job creation, rather than job placement', for those most disadvantaged in the labour market.
The European Social Firms of the Year Awards, which took place during the Social Firms UK and Social Firms Europe CEFEC annual conference, celebrated some of the fantastic work taking place across Europe was showcased and celebrated in style. Those winners in full:-
Best Overall winner 2010: Oxford Wood Recycling Ltd, UK
Ministers have this week released a statement announcing a brand new employment programme for severely disabled people . ‘Work Choice" will be introduced in October and will sit alongside the Work Programme. It aims to help people who face the most complex and long term barriers into employment.
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Finding a job at the moment is hard enough and if you’re disabled or have a mental health problem it’s even more difficult. Making the leap from relying on benefits to getting a full time job is often simply unrealistic. But part-time work can help to build up skills, confidence and a work record to show to future employers. It also raises the self esteem that comes with earning a wage. 
CEO of Social Firms UK Sally Reynolds has been made a member of the Department for Work and Pensions social inclusion advisory group- the only representative of the social enterprise sector. 