A chance to bag a place in a new Academy for social enterprises

A chance to bag a place in a new Academy for social enterprises

WCVA, through its financing arm Social Investment Cymru has today announced a new partnership with Asda and Social Investment Scotland to bring the newly launched Asda Social Enterprise Supplier Development Academy to Wales.

This ground breaking opportunity will provide support for product-based social enterprises in Wales to apply for a place within a new Academy set up to increase the availability of products for ethically-minded consumers in Asda supermarkets.

The new Academy will support at least two Welsh social enterprises in this cohort to strengthen their understanding of supermarket retail and refine their commercial and marketing skills.

From 4 April until 22 April, any social enterprise in Wales that thinks it has a product that could be sold in Asda stores will be able to apply for a place within the Academy. Following a short listing process a number of social enterprises will be invited for interview by a panel in a Dragon’s Den style pitch format for the final places.

Successful Social Enterprises will receive:

• Access to a range of specially developed training modules delivered over 3 days at Asda House in Leeds to include everything from understanding consumer purchasing to branding and packaging design

• Support to pitch your product to Asda

• Mentoring and insight from Asda experts and specialist support from Social Investment Cymru

• A tailored grant to cover participation in the Academy

• Access to bespoke investment to help develop and expand operations should Asda decide to list products within its stores

While there are no guarantees that Academy participants will receive a listing with Asda, the skills and support offered throughout the programme will significantly improve their prospects and, more importantly, provide them with all the skills necessary to access the large retail market.

Matthew Brown, Head of Social Investment Cymru said: ‘We are delighted to bring this innovative Academy to Wales to give our social enterprises the ability to access expert retail knowledge within Asda as well as financial support to make the most of the doors being opened by this Academy.’

Richard Mason, Senior Director Corporate Responsibility at Asda said: ‘At Asda we take great pride in supporting the communities we serve. Our partnership with Social Investment Cymru represents an exciting move beyond traditional grant-making programmes, providing tangible benefits for people across Wales.

‘We provide a lot of support to local suppliers in Wales to grow their business, many of whom have introduced their products to our stores across the UK. By harnessing the power of our retail experience and expertise, along with our 616-strong store estate and online shopping division, we can help social enterprises to access the large retail market. The potential benefits are multiple - customers get more choice and social enterprises get the support they need to move from small to medium to large business, which in turn could create more jobs, increase investment in local producers and build positive social impact.

‘Investing in social entrepreneurs is an innovative way for Asda to ensure that our customers’ money, raised through the carrier bag charge, is continually reinvested in communities and delivers long-term positive benefits for Wales.’

Full details of the Academy can be found at http://asdaseacademywales.strikingly.com or by emailing us at AsdaSEacademywales@wcva.org.uk

For more information please contact Simon Dowling
on 0800 2888 329.  WCVA website www.wcva.org.uk

Notes to editors:

• WCVA supports and represents the third sector in Wales, with more than 3,000 members including a wide range of organisations working on issues such as housing, economic regeneration, childcare, community development, transport, the environment and health.

• WCVA operates Social Investment Cymru (SIC) which is a Community Development Finance Institution (CDFI) that is providing social investment finance to third sector organisations across Wales
  
  
• Social Investment Scotland (SIS) is the largest not for profit provider of business loans to the third sector in Scotland as well as being a social enterprise and registered charity. SIS is also Scotland's, and one of the UK's, largest Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFI). A CDFI makes loans and other repayable investments to charities, community organisations and social enterprises that may find it difficult to access finance from other sources.

 Data Protection Act 1998  Contact details (name, address, organisation, tel, fax, emails) of press contacts are held and processed by WCVA on computer.  The information is used by WCVA for the promotion of the voluntary sector in Wales.  Contact details are disclosed to third parties for the purposes of assisting this promotion.

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SE- Assist Wales

Support, comprising a package of an interest free loan, a mentor and expert consultancy, for aspiring social enterprises in Wales that have a social impact addressing a local social or environmental need.

Further Information

Funding body:

Wales Co-operative Centre

Maximum value:

£ 30,000

Application deadline:

29/03/2016

Background

SE-Assist is administered by the Wales Co-operative Centre, which is mainly funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the Welsh Government, with additional funding from Comic Relief and the Nationwide Foundation.

The programme’s delivery partners comprise the Charities Aid Foundation, Business in the Community, Legal & General, the Welsh Government and the Institute of Directors (IoD).

Objectives of Fund

SE-Assist enables aspiring social enterprises in Wales to access repayable finance and additional assistance from corporate bodies. Social investment decisions will be made by the SE-Assist Wales Social Investment Committee (SIC) that will decide who to award the package of support.

Support, comprising a package of an interest free loan, a mentor and expert consultancy, is available applicants that have a social impact addressing a local social or environmental need.

Value Notes

SE-Assist offers social enterprises across Wales the following package of growth support:

• Interest free loans between £10,000 and £30,000
• An experienced corporate mentor.
• Access to a bank of experts.

Match Funding Restrictions

Match funding is not a stipulated requirement of this programme.

Who Can Apply

Social enterprises in Wales will qualify for assistance through this programme. Eligible applicants are those that:

• trade for a social and/or environmental purpose;
• have a clear charitable mission;
• bring in some of its income through selling goods or services;
• bring in some of its income through selling goods or services;
• reinvests profits to further its social mission, and/or which, in a ‘wind-up’ situation, remaining assets would be passed on to another non-profit social enterprise that has a charitable purpose.

A variety of legal structures will be considered:

• charities with a trading arm;
• community interest companies;
• companies limited by guarantee;
• companies limited by shares, in certain circumstances.

Applicants should have a turnover less than £500,000 pa (over the last three years) for the organisation, or specific initiative, for which they are applying.

Location

Wales

Terms and Conditions

SE-Assist uses charitable funds to invest in social enterprises. Due to this, all applicants will have to subject to CAF’s charitable validation process.

Applicants must:

• be willing to engage in ongoing learning and development process to improve the SE-Assist proposition;
• have, or be working towards, a sustainable business model;
• be seeking support for organisational growth or sustainability;
• have a clear need for package of support that SE-Assist will provide;
• demonstrate how the support package will help to achieve the organisation’s aims; and
• outline how the loan will be used and repaid.

The loans are interest free and there are no fees for taking on an SE-Assist loan. Loans should be paid back within two to three years, usually in monthly instalments.

Full terms and conditions will be provided upon application.

Restrictions

As the loan uses charitable money the loan has to be used for a social purpose only.

Eligible Expenditure

Costs associated with eligible projects.

Employee Notes

Applicants should have a turnover less than £500,000 pa (over the last three years).

How To Apply

Deadline(s):

The deadline for receipt of applications is 12pm on 29 March 2016.

Frequency: Unspecified.

Link to guidelines:

http://wales.coop/se-assist

Useful information:

Further advice and assistance with submitting an application may be sought directly from the sponsor.

(Source : Grantfinder)