Social enterprise Carefree offers unpaid carers a break by tapping into the power of tech and vacant hotel rooms. It has proven its business model, yet cannot access the finance it needs to grow. What could investors do differently?
Applications open for new fund offering loans of between £1m and £4m to social enterprises with track record of profitability in health and social care, affordable housing and ‘social infrastructure’.
Health and social care contracts present the biggest growth potential for social enterprises and voluntary sector organisations, finds independent analysis, but they’re held back by a digital skills gap and overcomplicated processes.
Social Enterprise UK tells health minister that draft policy proposals are being interpreted by some commissioners as a message that “they should take services away from social enterprises”.
Northern Irish social enterprises have already faced more than their fair share of uncertainty and delay – and now Covid-19 threatens to derail a growing movement. Will it pull through?
'Lived experience': just another buzzword, or a basic rule of engagement? Catch22 – which runs an incubator for entrepreneurs with direct exposure to the problems they're trying to tackle – weighs in.
Social investors are still too focused on internal battles – distracting them from the huge potential impact they could have by partnering up. Big Society Capital's CEO makes the case for the (sometimes) more difficult path of collaboration.
Social issues including isolation and loneliness are increasingly putting pressure on the NHS – Joanna Hamer explains why social prescribing could be the way forward.
