During our SE Reset week in May, mental health & wellbeing emerged strongly as one of the key themes – with social enterprises highlighting a range of issues relating to workforce, service users, and their wider community.  More recently, SCVO published its own report – ‘Coronavirus and its impact on the Scottish Voluntary Sector: a review of literature’  – which references SENScot’s SE Reset Report along with other key publications from the sector – which again highlights the scale of concerns relating to mental health & wellbeing. SEN members have also initiated a number of sessions which would address these concerns – which we have subsequently facilitated via presentations and discussions on a range of specific issues which have included: Supporting Staff Mental Wellbeing; Legal Responsibilities of Employers; Flexible Working & Mental Wellbeing; and the Role of Sport / Physical Activity in Improving Mental Wellbeing.

On Friday, we host a further session – Mental Health & Wellbeing in Communities – exploring the needs emerging as result of Covid19 and the social enterprise response to this and associated challenges. Social enterprises already play a key role in improving mental health & wellbeing across Scotland, via a wide range of direct support, early intervention & preventative approaches. We have no doubt that they will continue to make a crucial contribution in the mental health recovery from Covid19 and we invite social enterprises to get in touch to discuss this issue further and, hopefully, to be able to participate in a series of sessions and activity that we’ll be  in the coming months.

All the best,

Mary Sinclair

Learning & Knowledge Exchange Opportunities

ALL SEN session: DWP Kickstart scheme – Thu 24th Sept, 10-11am
Join us to hear more from DWP about their Kickstart scheme which provides full funding to employers to create new 6-month job placements for young people who are currently on Universal Credit and at risk of long-term unemployment.  Contact Jayne.

All SEN Session: Mental Health & Wellbeing Needs in Communities – Fri 25th Sept, 10.30am-12pm
An opportunity for SEN members to come together and discuss the mental health & wellbeing needs identified within their communities and to explore social enterprise response to this need, alongside the challenges and accompanying social enterprise support needs.  More info.

 Employability & Cultural SENs Session Wednesday 30th Sept (2.30pm)
Exploring employability opportunities within cultural sector for people who find it difficult to access jobs. Contact Sarah.  

Intergenerational National Network meeting Monday 9th Nov (10.30 to 12pm)
The meeting will be hosted by Sustrans, and the theme will be how different age groups travel through and use public space.  For further information contact Pat Scrutton

SE Reset Week 2 – is now scheduled for week commencing 16th November. A full programme of sessions will eb available over the coming weeks. This follows on from our initial SE Reset Week back in May.

 Rural SEN Virtual Community Learning Exchanges

Bùth Bharraigh Community Shop Tuesday 13th October, 13:30 – 15:00
Hear from Bùth Bharraigh’s Development Manager, Sarah MacLean – who will take us through the past few months in Castlebay, and describe how they have had to alter their services to meet changing community needs. Aside from adapting daily operations, a challenge for Bùth Bharraigh has been maintaining regular contact and links with socially isolated and vulnerable volunteers.

R-evolution Community Benefit Society Monday 19th October, 13:00 – 14:30
Hear from Debi Weir, the founder of R-evolution, a social enterprise based in Speyside, who aim to break the cycle of child poverty. With a planned launch date of March, Debi and her team had to quickly adapt when Covid-19 hit and move their services online.

Argyll and the Isles Coast and Countryside Trust Wednesday 28th October, 14:00-15:30
Hear from Julie Young, Development Manager of ACT, who run several projects in areas including conservation, tourism, and access to the outdoors. During lockdown, their operations had to change, but two current projects managed to emerge despite lockdown: MAKI Pups, an outdoor nursery, and ACT Now, a programme designed to help communities adopt strategies to tackle climate change.

SEN Member News

EnvironMentalHealth CIC is launching their new logo next week and to celebrate the launch are offering a free introduction to First Aid for Mental Health on 13th October to anyone interested. June has also shared moving words on her own personal journey in creating EnvironMentalHealth and is well worth a read. More info here.

Theatre Nemo are involved in a new adventure with Simon Community Scotland – The Access Hub. This is a brand-new Health, Wellbeing & Home Hub developed with key agencies in Glasgow.  Nemo will initially be providing Art activities and will gradually be introducing other creative activities that will improve participant’s mental wellbeing. To learn more, register for one of the Launch Tours.

Nilupul Foundation, following the successful delivery of their 6 week online Bodyworks course, are putting on another course starting 23rd Sept – 28th Oct, 6.30 -7.30 pm. Bodyworks helps people to manage COVID-19 pandemic stress, relaxing the body & calming the mind through mindfulness. £36 donation to project helping vulnerable & disadvantaged in Dundee. More info.

Project Ability are delighted to launch their very first online exhibition. Like many other businesses, they have had to adapt during these difficult times, having to shut their studios and gallery back in March, yet still making every effort to stay in ouch with their artists via zoom, phone calls and delivering art packs to home. Check out the Flashback to February online exhibition.

Eat, Sleep, Ride have published their Social Impact Report.  ESR is a social enterprise working with young people experiencing mental health problems, those that have suffered abuse, lived in areas of high deprivation and other challenges such as drug/alcohol addiction. The young people take part in horse care, riding and stable management activities.

Life Pod has created the UK’s first “hoarding academy” with the aim of improving understanding of the disorder among health and local authority workers, as well as offering support to people affected by compulsive hoarding. Read more.

Ideas for Ears have kindly shared a short film (4 mins) about hearing access. This community project brought people together, got them sharing ideas and knowledge, and created a real spirit of can-do optimism. More info and link to video here.  

Greener Kirkcaldy‘s Community Food Team have launched The Lang Toun Larder – A Community Pantry. The pantry redistributes surplus and unsold food from local businesses. People can sign up as members and ‘shop’ in the pantry once a week. Their Community Chef makes meals and bakes bread and scones for the pantry weekly. Fresh fruit and veg is also available from their Community Training Garden. More info.

Ardenglen Housing Association are launching the Castlemilk Community Food Pantry and are looking for a motivated, dynamic and resilient individual to join their Operations Team as the Pantry Coordinator. More info.

Outside the Box are exploring community solutions for social care and looking at how small and local is an important part of the picture. More info on their work and upcoming sessions here.   

Healthy Valleys have kindly shared their latest newsletter which contains a summary of the amazing work they have been doing over the past two months in rural South Lanarkshire to support people and communities.  There is no doubt that the past few months have been challenging. 

Talking Mats “Talking Mats Online Foundation Training courses continue to be highly popular with both of September’s courses full.  There are courses due to start on 6th October and 3rd November, as well as the Keeping Safe course that takes place from the start of every month.  Contact info@talkingmats.com for more information or to secure your place on one of the courses.”

Respite Now CIC is now a recognised online centre for The Good Things Foundation and have been awarded a quantity of digital tablets which will be put to good use with the people they support and the Peace of Mind program. 

Falkirk Foundation have a number of current and upcoming opportunities within their Falkirk Work Academy which delivers Employability tutoring to a range of people seeking work. More info.

Other News

Review of Adult Social Care
An independent review, chaired by Derek Feeley (former director general of Health & Social Care, SG) is taking place to consider the idea of a national care service and will report in January 2021. This will include a wide range of service and non-clinical support in a range of settings, including day services and community support. More info.  SENScot is keen to hear your thoughts on this. Please get in touch to discuss further.

Thrive Celebration Event (Wed 30th Sept)
Join UnLtd, social entrepreneurs and supporters to celebrate the second year of the Thrive accelerator at our “Thrive Celebration Event”.  Thrive is an accelerator helping ambitious social ventures to scale. Over the past six months, UnLtd has supported 12 brilliant social entrepreneurs, each of whom are improving the lives of older adults in the UK.  This event will focus on their achievements over the past six months and what they’ve got planned for the future and provide an opportunity to hear about funding, support opportunities and UnLtd’s future healthy ageing work over the next year. Next round of funding & support opens for application Sept 30th. More info.

Partnership opportunity with a mental health digital project
The ALLIANCE have flagged up this partnership opportunity with a mental health digital project that SEN members may be interested in. This appears to be an opportunity for small and medium-sized enterprises to partner in ‘IT4Anxiety’. More info.

Spreading and sustaining service transformation. (Healthcare Improvement Scotland)
If you’re interested in implementing and sustaining service transformation, it’s important to understand what enables change. The findings and insights in Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s new learning system report uncovered three main themes of trust, communities and technology, and the importance of addressing inequalities within each of these. Read the report.

Coronavirus (COVID-19): impact on communities and priorities for recovery research. (Scottish Government, 17th Sept 20)
Report on research to understand concerns, opportunities and wider experiences related to the coronavirus pandemic with various organisations across Scotland. Read here.

Coronavirus (COVID-19): impact on wellbeing research. (Scottish Government, 17th Sept 20)
This report provides insight into the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the social and economic wellbeing of people across Scotland.

VHS Annual Conference & AGM 2020
This will take place online over 2 days on the 4th & 5th Nov, with 4 session to allow flexible access and options for joining. More info.

‘Owning the Economy’ Community Wealth Building Summit 2020
Taking place on 5th Nov, this is an opportunity to hear from global thought leaders who are progressing community wealth building policy and from emerging and established practitioners. More info.

Tender & Funding Opportunities

Go to Partnership for Procurement (P4P) and Public Contract Scotland to check current and forthcoming tender opportunities. 

Some current relevant funding opportunities highlighted below, but for fuller listings go to SCVO-funding.Community & Third Sector Recovery Programme
This week saw the formal launch of the new Scottish Govt’s new £25m Community and Third Sector Recovery Programme. The Programme is split into two parts – the Communities Recovery Fund and the Adapt and Thrive Programme. The links provide further details including guidelines and application forms etc – with both programmes being open to applications up until March 2021. Whilst the Communities Recovery Fund is a more straightforward grant programme, Adapt and Thrive will provide wrap-around advice as well as grants and loans. As stated in recent weeks, both programmes are open to community organisations, social enterprises and wider third sector organisations with turnovers under £500k.

During our SE Reset week in May, mental health & wellbeing emerged strongly as one of the key themes – with social enterprises highlighting a range of issues relating to workforce; service users; and their wider community.  More recently, SCVO published its own report – ‘Coronavirus and its impact on the Scottish Voluntary Sector: a review of literature’  – which references to SENScot’s SE Reset Report along with other key publications from the sector – which again highlighted the scale of concerns across the sector relating to mental health & wellbeing. SEN members have also initiated a number of online sessions seeking to address these concerns – which SENScot has subsequently facilitated via presentations and discussions on a range of specific issues. These have included: Supporting Staff Mental Wellbeing; Legal Responsibilities of Employers; Flexible Working & Mental Wellbeing; and the Role of Sport / Physical Activity in Improving Mental Wellbeing.

Tomorrow, we host a further session – Mental Health & Wellbeing in Communities – exploring the needs emerging as result of Covid19 and the social enterprise response to this and other associated challenges. Social enterprises already play a key role in improving mental health & wellbeing across Scotland, via a wide range of direct support, early interventions & preventative approaches – and will, no doubt, continue to make a crucial contribution in the mental health recovery from Covid19. We invite social enterprises to get in touch to discuss this issue further and, hopefully, to participate in a series of sessions and activities that we’ll be facilitating in the coming months. To do so, please contact mary@senscot.net.

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SENScot has now moved its Glasgow base from George Square to new premises at 42 Miller Street, Glasgow G1 1DT (just off Ingram Street). Both P4P and Senscot Legal will also be based here. Obviously, for the time being, there will be limited staff presence. Respective phone numbers etc will remain the same.

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This week saw the formal launch of Scottish Govt’s new £25m Community and Third Sector Recovery Programme. The Programme is split into two parts – the Communities Recovery Fund and the Adapt and Thrive Programme. The links provide further details including guidelines and application forms etc – with both programmes being open to applications up until March 2021. Whilst the Communities Recovery Fund is a more straightforward grant programme, Adapt and Thrive will provide wrap-around advice and support as well as grants and loans. As stated in recent weeks, both programmes are open to community organisations, social enterprises and wider third sector organisations with turnovers under £500k.

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The Social Enterprise Collection at Glasgow Caledonian Archive Centre (GCU Archives) has been established to preserve, record and to retell the history of social enterprise’s distinctive heritage in Scotland. SENScot, itself, is currently collating its own 20-year backstory for inclusion in the Collection. In response to Covid 19 – and the innovation, collaboration and support demonstrated by the sector during this period, CGU Archives has put out a call asking for organisations, if they can, to collect the experiences of their members during Covid 19 – to be shared with future generations. For more info’ or to share your own experiences – email archives@gcu.ac.uk – or follow #KeepItDontDeleteIt

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A series of Community Learning Exchanges (CLE) have been lined up to run through October. Inspiralba and Scottish Community Alliance are teaming up to provide an opportunity for rurally-based social enterprises to share learning and solutions to the challenges posed by Covid. Rural SEN members have signed up to host these virtual CLEs, which will consist of brief virtual tours; presentations from hosts on challenges and solutions; followed by Q&As and general discussion – with a focus very much on audience participation and peer learning. To sign or to find out more, see SE Rural Hub details

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Frontline News: Midsteeple Quarter – a community-led initiative to acquire and redevelop properties in Dumfries High Street – has more good news with the acquisition of two further shop units in the High St:

Scottish Land Fund has announced funding of £1.6m for community organisations looking to acquire assets from local woodlands, village shops and an urban community centre. See list of awardees:

ILM Highland has, this week, opened a new online retail shop – and also launched its new website. In addition to the new shop, ILM continues with its Home Improvement and Electrical Recycling activities:

The John Pearce Memorial Lecture, this year, is scheduled for Monday, 16th November (3.30-5pm). Ed Mayo, Chief Exec of Pilotlight, will give this year’s lecture on ‘ The Power of Dreams: community economic development after the virus’. The event is free and will be online. See link to book your place:

The Robertson Trust today published its new 10-year Strategy – providing over £200m in funding to organisations addressing poverty and trauma in communities across Scotland over the next decade:

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Dates for your Diary:

All SEN Session: Tomorrow, Friday 25th Sept (10.30am) – Mental Health & Wellbeing Needs in Communities – addressing SE response to mental health & wellbeing in communities. Contact Mary.

Employability & Cultural SENs: Wednesday 30th Sept (2.30pm) – Exploring employability opportunities within cultural sector for people who find it difficult to access jobs. To book, email sarah@senscot.net :

All SEN Session on Flexible Working & Mental Wellbeing recording now available. Contributors – Geoff Leask (Young Enterprise Scotland); Lisa Gallagher (Flexibility Works); Claire Carpenter (The Melting Pot):

SE Restart and Rebuild – will take place week commencing 16th November 2020 – a follow on from our initial SE Reset Week back in May. Full programme and booking information available in coming weeks:

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SE around the globe: It seems appropriate that, this week, we reference the SE World Forum which has been taking place digitally since Monday (last day tomorrow). The event has included a wide range of daily sessions – and has attracted participants from over 50 countries – including a number of Scottish contributors. SENScot participated in a ‘participant-nominated’ session on the role of social enterprise networks – local, national and thematic – and the potential to connect them globally. An immediate outcome is a planned follow-up session with, in the first instance, Australian, European and American colleagues. Topics for discussion will include: Collaboration and co-operation; the commons; the role of networks in overcoming the ‘ego-system’; and the strength of ‘localism’. More info on the ‘Global SEN’ soon.

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SEN Spotlight: This week’s SEN spotlight looks at the first social enterprise network to be established in Scotland – Fife SEN. Back in 2004, Fife SEN was formed through the work of the School for Social Entrepreneurs, originally based in Fife – and hosted by BRAG Enterprise. It became formally constituted in 2012.  Over the years, BRAG has continued to provide support for the network – although, unfortunately, recent funding issues have made this more difficult of late. Fife itself – according to the SE Census 2019 – has over 300 social enterprises and Fife SEN, despite having no dedicated funding, has continued to host regular meetings – bringing members together on a quarterly basis. Providing the opportunity for local social enterprises to access peer-to-peer support remains a key function for any SEN. It is great credit to the Fife social enterprise community – and BRAG Enterprises – that they have been able to maintain this without any dedicate resources. Hopefully, this can be rectified in the year ahead.

Final details of Scottish Govt’s Community & Third Sector Recovery Programme is due to be announced over the next week or so. Information, to date, suggests that the £25m fund is being made available ‘to create the best conditions for the third sector and volunteering to thrive and contribute to a recovering economy and society’. We understand that the ‘Adapt and Thrive’ component of the Programme will offer both advice and funding – and will include a cap of £25k per organisation/application. It also appears that organisations with turnovers of over £500k will not be eligible. The Recovery Programme will be widely welcomed as our sector continues to try and address the challenges of the ongoing pandemic and its impact on local communities.

The rationale for capping Adapt & Thrive fund is understandable – with the overwhelming majority or organisations in Scotland being small and locally-based. However, for those organisations (with turnovers over £500k), there are growing concerns about the implications for them – and what the alternatives will be. This dilemma is exacerbated for many social enterprises as they see some sectors – such as museums, heritage, community transport etc – having bespoke funds being made available – while others are still awaiting news of similar support from their own relevant Govt department or statutory agency. The additional challenge of clear and consistent guidelines also remains a critical issue for many. Guidance & eligibility for the ‘Communities Recovery Fund’ element has not yet been published.

Having already committed around £40m this year to the Resilience Fund and Supporting Communities Fund, Scottish Govt has demonstrated its awareness of the role of the third sector – both socially and economically – across wider society and, in particular, within local communities. However, with so much uncertainty around, a longer-term and well thought out programme of support – for organisations of all sizes – will be required if the sector is going to genuinely be able to contribute effectively to the country’s recovery. Such unprecedented circumstances – call for equally unprecedented measures.

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Since 2017, SENScot’s Glasgow base has been at 24 George Square. As from Monday, 21st September, we will have a new office, based at 42 Miller Street, Glasgow G1 1DT (just off Ingram Street). This will also be the new base for P4P and for Senscot Legal. Phone numbers etc will remain the same.

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Just a reminder – if you are missing Laurence’s weekly ‘musings’, you can sign up for them via his new website – Larry’s Lunchette.

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The UK Govt’s Kickstart Scheme may be of interest to many social enterprises in Scotland. The programme is designed to provide jobs for young people (16-24 years old) – initially through a six-month, fully funded placement. One of the conditions of the Scheme is that if you are taking on less than 30 placements, you are required to go through an ‘intermediary’ organisation. Two such ‘intermediaries’ are SCVO and GCVS . Our Employability SEN has organised an information session with DWP (Thursday 24th Sept, 10am) – for social enterprises interested in finding out more about Kickstart as an Employer.  Contact Jayne to book

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Good to hear that work on the restoration of Govanhill Baths is due commence before the end of the year. The campaign by the local community to save the Baths began 20 years ago – and now, thanks to an additional award from Scottish Govt’s Regeneration Capital Grant Fund – work can finally get underway. The £9m project will see Govanhill Baths re-open as a wellbeing centre incorporating three pools, a health suite and other sports and health initiatives. All being well, the Baths will open again in spring 2022 – the 21st anniversary of the community’s original protests at the planned closure by Glasgow City Council.

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Social enterprise is constantly breaking new ground in providing opportunities for more marginalised or disadvantaged members of our communities. Criminal Records is another such example – a record label for ex-offenders, supported by artists who’re prepared to give of their time to help those who are in, or have come through, the criminal justice system. The label will develop and give a platform to talented musicians, most of whom would never get the opportunity to be heard owing to criminal convictions. At the heart of Criminal Records is a desire to restore dignity, build self-esteem, self-agency and a sense of purpose.

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Frontline News:

Glasgow SEN has announced the appointment of Jennifer Robertson as their new Director. Jennifer is currently Social Enterprise Officer covering three TSIs across Forth Valley – and has been supporting the Forth Valley SEN. She will be taking up her new post in October – and we wish her well in her new role:

Scottish Govt, this week, announced The Islands Green Recovery Programme – a £2m fund to support locally-led green initiatives – such as low carbon transport, food sustainability and zero waste projects:

Scotland’s first community-owned brewery is being established on the Isle of Eigg. As well as creating jobs, all brewing will be 100% environmentally based – using green energy, fuelled by solar power panels:

Instead of hosting the SE Awards this year, Social Enterprise Scotland will instead host a Social Enterprise Digital Showcase (3rd Nov 2020). Applications are now invited. Closing date is Wed, 30th Sept (12 noon):

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Dates for your Diary:

Community Food SEN: Tomorrow, Friday, 18th Sept (10.30am) – Opportunity for SEN members to discuss challenges faced in moving from Phase 3 to Phase 4 of Scotland’s Route Map. Contact mary@senscot.net

Employability SEN: Wednesday, Sept 23rd (2pm)Drew Reid from Skills Development Scotland will be talking about how their Skills for Growth programme could benefit members. To book, email Jayne :

All SEN Session: Friday 25th Sept (10.30am) – Mental Health & Wellbeing Needs in Communities – addressing SE response to mental health & wellbeing needs in communities. Contact – mary@senscot.net

Employability & Cultural SENs: Wednesday 30th Sept (2.30pm) – Exploring employability opportunities within cultural sector for people who find it difficult to access jobs. To book, email sarah@senscot.net :

Recording of this week’s All SEN Session on Flexible Working & Mental Wellbeing now available – with contributions from Geoff Leask (Young Enterprise Scotland); Lisa Gallagher (Flexibility Works) and Claire Carpenter (The Melting Pot):

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SE around the globe: We are looking at a social enterprise a bit closer to home in this week’s ‘SE around the globe’ – that operates a dining scheme to help young people out of homelessness. London-based Fat Macy’s, launched in 2016, was set up to help young people break the cycle of homelessness by training them to become chefs and supporting them as they move out of hostels and into permanent homes. Meals are cooked by trainee chefs, who can apply for a housing deposit grant when they graduate, providing them with financial support as they move into rented accommodation. Since launching in 2016, Fat Macy’s has provided 1,600 hours of work experience to around 30 trainee chefs and raised £16,000 to go towards housing deposits for their graduates

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SEN Spotlight: This week’s spotlight is on one of the longer established thematic SENs – the Cultural SEN , first established in 2009. Today, there are around 130 social enterprises active within the network. The members come from a wide range of different specialisms – including community cinema; community theatre, heritage museums, music groups, art centres, design agencies, and independent film studios. Over the years, they have sought, with some success, to influence policy-making both locally and nationally and, more recently, their work was referenced within Scottish Govt’s Cultural Strategy – published in February 2020. Specific Briefings, in recent years, have also focused on Community Cinema and SE and the Heritage Sector – amongst others. As with other thematic SENs, a monthly Newsletter is circulated to all members. This month’s Cultural SEN Newsletter is now available.

Social Enterprise Network Scotland is now in its third month and whilst our ‘settling in’ period is still with us, we have been fortunate, thanks to our staff, in being able to maintain our day-to-day activities relatively unhindered. Over the coming weeks, we will have more news on the shape and direction of travel for the organisation and how we will engage with and support our membership. In the meantime, however, the Board has agreed to move forward using SENScot as our trading name. This not only reflects a familiar and, we think, successful brand within the sector in Scotland – but also reflects an organisation that will represent the interests of grassroots social enterprises – with social enterprise networks (SENs) at its heart – a network of networks.

An integral part of SENScot’s work revolves around its engagement with and its support to the thematic SENs. The thematic SENs first began to emerge around a decade ago. Today, there are seven thematic SENs – Health; Community Food; Culture; Sport; Employability; Tourism and the Rural SEN. Together they actively engage with around 900 social enterprises from all parts of Scotland. One of our key activities during the current pandemic was SE Reset Week – held in May – which saw over 800 people participate in around 20 separate online sessions. The findings from these sessions have been summarised in this short Briefing Paper. Planning is now underway for Reset Week 2 – with further news to follow shortly.

            The work of the thematic SENs has continued apace over recent months. This PowerPoint presentation gives a short summary of their respective activity since our recent merger in July 2020.

Following last week’s publication of Scottish Govt’s Programme for Government, the think-tank, Common Wealth, has produced this report – Charting a Just and Sustainable Recovery for Scotland – which identifies a series of key policies that , they say, could be introduced without any budgetary implications and would, ‘democratise our economy, build community wealth, create decent jobs, and support the just transition for a sustainable future for all as the first step in building a new economic consensus’.

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Glasgow City Council sadly confirmed last week, following its debate on 3rd Sept – that it will proceed with proposed cuts to the city’s third sector. The Council has been keen to point out that applications to its Communities Fund was oversubscribed by £57m – although this will be little consolation to the 130 local organisations who will no longer receive local authority support – and now face an uncertain future. In response to the current circumstances, the Council is setting up a review of its relationship with the city’s third sector. The review will be chaired by Ian Bruce – Chief Executive at GCVS.

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The Third Sector Resilience Fund (TSRF) will close tomorrow (11th Sept) at 12 noon. Over the last six months, the TSRF has provided grant funding to over 1300 organisations – seeking to help protect over 16,000 jobs and, in doing so, maintain vital services within local communities. In addition, 25 organisations have also been able to access loan funding. Very shortly, Scottish Govt will be announcing a follow up – with the opening of the new £25m Third Sector Community and Recovery Programme.

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Scottish Govt has, this week, produced this report on Community Ownership in Scotland as of December 2019 – identifying 590 assets that are owned by 418 community organisations. A 5% rise on the year before.

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Frontline News: Latest Sport SEN Newsletter is now available – including features on Sport SEN members that have re-opened or are planning to do so this month; up-and-coming virtual SEN sessions for members and others; news on funding and support available; as well as info on the Week of Sport at end of September:

CEIS has produced recordings and videos of the various presentations from last week’s SE Policy and Practice event. If you weren’t able to attend – or if you’d like to re-visit some sessions, check out the link:

Some Cultural SEN members will be interested in Scottish Govt’s new Independent Cinema Recovery and Resilience Fund announced last week. £3.5m available – with the fund opening for applications on 14th Sept:

Good news for community transport organisations in Scotland with a £5m package via the National Lottery Community Fund – for projects supporting isolated and vulnerable people through local transport initiatives:

This short video showcases the partnership approach of  West Lothian Food Network during the Covid crisis – involving West Lothian Council, the local third sector (including WLSEN members) and private sector:

Common Ground is a partnership between homeless charity, Rowan Alba and Community Shares Scotland – looking to raise capital to purchase a property in Edinburgh to provide log-term housing for homeless people.

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Dates for your Diary:

All SEN Session – Rescheduled: Monday 14th September (3-4pm) – Flexible Working & Mental Wellbeing. Our re-scheduled session will include contributions from Geoff Leask (Young Enterprise Scotland); Lisa Gallagher (Flexibility Works) and Claire Carpenter (The Melting Pot). To sign up, email mary@senscot.net

Health SEN: Wednesday, 16th Sept (10.30am) – Anne Connor (Outside the Box) will talk about how smaller providers can play a bigger role in the world of health & social care. To book, email mary@senscot.net

Community Food SEN: Friday, 18th Sept (10.30am) – Opportunity for SEN members to discuss together challenges faced moving from Phase 3 to Phase 4 of Scotland’s Route Map. Contact mary@senscot.net

Employability SEN: Wednesday, September 23rd (2pm)Drew Reid from Skills Development Scotland will be talking about how their Skills for Growth programme could benefit members. To book, email Jayne:

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SE around the globe: It seems appropriate that this week’s’ SE around the globe’ spot looks at the Social Enterprise World Forum – which will be taking place (virtually) between 21st-25th Sept. This will be the 13th running of an event which first started its life in Edinburgh, back in 2008. There is an impressive list of webinars, masterclasses and facilitated discussion available during the 5-day programme. Some of the content may seem pretty remote to frontline social enterprise in Scotland –  others, less so – but, irrespective of your own views on the role and contribution of social enterprise, it certainly gives a flavour of the different approaches and challenges in different countries around the globe.  Particular Scottish contributions will come from the likes of InspirAlba; the SE Rural Hub; CRNS; and the SE Academy. See Booking Forms.

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SEN Spotlight: This week, we look at one of the newer Local SENs – first set up 18 months ago. Angus SEN was established in March 2019 following an 18-month consultation process with the local third sector to develop the Angus Social Enterprise Strategy and a supporting 3 year Action Plan. As well as existing local social enterprises, Angus SEN is also keen to welcome new enterprises – whether start-ups or those that are as part of an existing third sector organisation. In addition to providing peer-to-peer support, Angus SEN also actively promotes collaboration and partnership working amongst its 35 members – as well as with the wider third sector and public sector. Later this month – 30th Sept – they will host the Angus SEN Showcase event – which will include the launch of the new Angus Social Enterprise Directory. For more info on Angus SEN, email admin@angussen.org.uk . Angus SEN is currently being supported by Voluntary Action Angus.

September 2020

Welcome to the September newsletter.

We are in the process of developing a new website and want to fill it with wonderful images from social enterprises across Scotland- if you have high quality images you can share please get in touch.

Please remember to send me updates for the next Newsletter and Senscot bulletins and remember you can post events and jobs on the Senscot website.

Sarah

Updates

Following on from the success of SE Reset week we’re planning another week of virtual sessions.  Keep an eye on newsletters and the weekly bulletin for more information.

Robertson Trust are due to launch their new strategy this month with a sharper focus on Poverty & Trauma read more here

Join us for a Joint Thematic SEN session to explore the topic of employability, specifically focussing on the opportunities our Creative and Cultural industries have to offer and provide in relation to routes to employment for people who find it difficult to access jobs, and to discuss any issues and challenges that you are facing during these challenging times. Wednesday 30th September, 2.30pm.  Drop me an email if you’d like to join us.

Social Enterprises in Aberdeen are coming together for an informal chat and discussion around the subject of recovering from COVID19.  Friday 11th September at 11am -12.30pm.  to sign up, email Janice

The mass zoom outage on 24th August meant that we couldn’t run the Flexible Working & Mental Wellbeing session as planned.  Good news though- the session has been rearranged for next Monday, if you’d like to attend email Mary

Virtual Community Learning Exchange with Prep Table Scotland – Thu 17th Sept (10am). Prep Table (recent merger with Scran Academy) is a social enterprise aiming to make the food industry more open, fair and ethical for producers, suppliers, employees and customers.  Join founder Fiona Donaldson to hear about her social enterprise journey, from being completely new to the sector in 2017 to running a successful business delivering social impact.  More info.

Employability SEN: Wednesday, September 23rd (2-3pm) – Drew Reid from Skills Development Scotland will be talking about how their Skills for Growth programme could benefit members. To book, email Jayne

Mental Health and Well-being Needs in Communities– an opportunity for SEN members to come together and discuss the mental health and well-being needs identified within their communities and to explore social enterprise response to this need, alongside challenges and accompanying social enteprise support needs.  Friday, 25ht September 10.30am.  To join email Mary

Digital

Digital technology is a popular subject at the moment so I thought I would add a section to this months newsletter to highlight some opportunities.

Travel Tech for Scotland launched this week to help Scotland’s tourism sector make a sustained recovery driven by technological innovation.  See more here.

Scottish Enterprise are running a series of Online ecommerce workshops

Creative Edinburgh Digital Skills Programme- Raise Your Game

Ross McCulloch of Third Sector Lab and the SCVO Digital Team. 15 digital actions every charity should implement

Tourism & Heritage

It’s Scottish Food & Drink Fortnight!  5th to 20th September.  To read more about what happening and to join in on the celebrations see here.

See the updated STERG National Action Plan

Eat Sleep Ride are looking to pilot an Equine Facilitated Learning project, with support from the national lottery.  Equine facilitated learning and therapy does not involve any horse riding, and so offers an excellent opportunity for everyone and is especially effective in supporting mental health.

deafscotland have  made two films with the Scottish Deaf Cycling Club on cycling safely if you are deaf and Cycling Scotland’s top 10 tips for cycling safely. Check them out here.

See this Tourism Insights Tool the project, led by academics at the University of Edinburgh Business School shows which visitors are most interested in coming to the UK, and most likely to be able to afford it.

Creative Industries

CUPIDO’s second round of on-line digital heritage workshops kicks off in September.  See more here.

Independent Cinema Recovery and Resilience Fund launches, alongside delivery plans for further emergency funds including: Culture Organisations and Venues Recovery Fund, Creative Freelancer Hardship Fund, Sustaining Creative Practice Fund, and Youth Arts Fund.  Read more here.

Articulate Hub have joined a call for arts to be the at the centre of young people lives- read their blog here

Creative Dundee have launched their new website.  Check out their team blog that highlights opportunities and shares their thoughts on the challenges faced by those in the cultural and creative sectors.

Funding & Opportunities

Independent Cinema Recovery and Resilience Fund

Events Industry Support Fund– closes Monday 14 September 2020 at 12 noon

Scottish Government’s Grassroots Music Venues Stabilisation Fund.

Tenders

The Full Picture Commissions is a brand new Creative Dundee project that will commission 3 artists in and around Dundee to conduct short term research and create pieces in response to the barriers that exist in the creative industries. Deadline for applications is 14 September.

Festival Uk 2022 Research & Development Opportunity Now Open

CashBack for a Creative Highlands Evaluator, Eden Court Highlands

Flying Your Zetland Flag, Falkirk Council

A New Visual Identity for Stellar Quines, Stellar Quines Theatre Company

Provision of Filmography, Skills Development Scotland

Don’t forget that you can view current and future tender opportunities on the P4P website and contact the P4P team for advice and support.

Events

For events run by and for social enterprises See here

You can submit events to our website- links will be included in all the thematic newsletters and the weekly bulletin.

If you have anything for next months newsletter email me at sarah@senscot.netJobsEventsFundingTenders

This week saw the First Minister announce Scottish Govt’s Programme for Government – Protecting Scotland, Renewing Scotland. Headlines have predictably focused on the plans for IndyRef 2, however, there are a raft of other measures that, in the view of the First Minister, will address the immediate priority of tackling the impact of the Covid pandemic – whilst retaining a focus on looking to grow and develop Scotland’s economy. Some initiatives that jump out include the Youth Guarantee; further details on the £2bn Green New Deal (first announced last year) – including a £100m Green Jobs Fund; and plans to create a National Care Service.             For our own sector, there was confirmation of the £25m Recovery Fund – with further details out soon. Further reference to the third sector is made on Page 60  – and includes reference to the launch of the new Social Enterprise Action Plan in the autumn. No doubt further discussions will take place as the new Action Plan takes shape – but it is vital that the Plan builds on the support to the sector that has been made available over recent months and recognises the importance of localism and the key role community-led organisations have played in local responses to the pandemic. It must look to ensure, as best it can, that resources are targeted at frontline organisations – to be able to successfully deliver on the Plan’s ambition. In May, with other member-led organisations, we submitted this letter to the Cabinet Secretary, calling for a ‘recovery-focused’ Action Plan that can meet the current needs of the sector and the communities they serve.

As Scottish Govt lays out is plans to support our sector via a new Recovery Plan and the impending SE Action Plan, colleagues in Glasgow are facing a different reality – with the likelihood of extensive cuts across the third sector as Glasgow City Council looks to balance its books. This afternoon, the Council  debates proposals put forward to reduce funding to the sector of up to £30m over the next three years. Reports – to date – suggest over 100 organisations seem to have had their funding bids rejected. The Council announced yesterday that an extra £4m of transitional funding is now being made available to organisation supporting those most severely impacted by the current pandemic.

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Wednesday saw over 200 delegates log-in to CEIS’ SE Policy and Practice Conference – with its focus being on recovery and how we can help to rebuild together. Three key themes – the Wellbeing Economy; Climate Crisis; and Community Wealth Building (CWB). One significant announcement – from Cab Sec, Aileen Campbell, was the roll-out of the CWB model which will now include the following local authority areas – Ayrshire Region; Glasgow City Region; Clackmannanshire Council; South of Scotland (SOSE); Tay Cities; and Western Isles Council. With the focus of the event being on ‘recovery’, this sobering report  (collated by SES) – from data provided via the Resilience Fundand the recent OSCR survey – drives home  the fact that what was already a very fragile sector (prior to Covid) – now faces even more challenging times.

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On 17th Sept, P4P will be launching a new series of monthly webinars, titled ‘In Conversation With…….’. The series will feature a range of voices from across our social enterprise community who are successfully collaborating with others, or are supporting those that are already doing so. The first webinar will see P4P joined by Co-operative Development Scotland – discussing the Consortium Co-operative model – with  October’s webinar featuring the newly-formed Glasgow Arts Partnership, led by the Glasgow Connected Arts Network. Here’s the booking form for both webinars. As a warm-up to September’s webinar, see

P4P’s latest Guest Blog where Suzanne Orchard (Co-operative Development Scotland) explains potential benefits for social enterprises in adopting the Consortium Co-operative partnership model:

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Frontline News:

Prep Table Scotland is also hosting a ‘virtual’ Community Learning Exchange (CLE) on Thurs, 17th Sept. The CLE is being jointly run by the Health, Community Food and Employability SENs. See booking details

Glasgow SEN member Lingo Flamingo is back – offering a brand new Online Semester – where people can

Continue their Lingo Flamingo journey, from home, participating in their online classes via ZOOM:

DTA Scotland’s August Newsletter now available – with features on the ongoing activity of its members – from Largo in Fife to Staffin in Skye – as well as up-and-coming details on their November Conference:

This year’s Social Enterprise World Forum will be taking place (virtually) between 21st-25th Sept. Tickets cost £49. Scottish participants include InspirAlba; the SE Rural Hub; CRNS; and the SE Academy:

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Dates for your Diary:

All SEN Session – Rescheduled: Monday 14th September (3-4pm) – Flexible Working & Mental Wellbeing. Our re-scheduled session will include contributions from Geoff Leask (Young Enterprise Scotland); Lisa Gallagher (Flexibility Works) and Claire Carpenter (The Melting Pot). To sign up, email mary@senscot.net

Sport and Health SEN: Wednesday, 9 Sept (10am) – Using Sport and Physical Activity to Promote Positive Mental Health’ will include various speakers about their approach and support which exists to help organisations develop programmes and initiatives on this topic. To book, email jude@senscot.net

Angus SEN: Wednesday,9th September – in partnership with Evaluation Support Scotland – will be hosting Learning to Tell Your Story – an introductory session on the basics of evaluation:

Aberdeen SEN: Friday, 11th Sept (11am) – looking at the 3 biggest challenges members face as they come out of lockdown; the support that is needed; and how the SEN can help. To book, email janice@senscot.net

Health SEN: Wednesday, 16th Sept (10.30am) – Anne Connor (Outside the Box) will talk about how smaller providers can play a bigger role in the world of health & social care. To book, email mary@senscot.net

Community Food SEN: Friday, 18th Sept (10.30am) – Opportunity for SEN members to discuss together challenges faced moving from Phase 3 to Phase 4 of Scotland’s Route Map. Contact mary@senscot.net

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SE around the globe: This week’s, we highlight a Pan-African social enterprise that is producing African news for the young people throughout the continent – via social media. UMWE Africa was established in 2018 and works with contributors (mainly students) from multiple African countries who are dedicated to engaging young people with matters that are shaping the future. One current project that UMWE Africa is working on is the production of a series of four documentaries – called ‘Pandemic: Covid-19 in Africa‘ – working with 20 students across 17 African countries to capture the unique experiences in each country.

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SEN Spotlight: This week’s SEN Spotlight looks features the Community Food SEN which was originally  set up in 2011 on the back of  a series of training events sponsored by Community Food and Health Scotland.

The Community Food SEN works with over 70 organisations from around the country engaged in different aspects of community food – including growers, community cafes, food cooperatives as well as providers of emergency food aid. All members have been prominent in local responses to the current Covid crisis – providing crucial services to vulnerable people. Over the years, the Community Food SEN has produced a number of documents promoting the important work of its members. Recent examples include Briefing Papers – and option models for Community Cafes – see Scenario 1; Scenario 2; Scenario 3: The next Community Food SEN meeting (by Zoom) is scheduled for Friday, 18th Sept (10.30am) – and will provide members with an opportunity to discuss together the challenges faced in moving from Phase 3 to Phase 4 of Scotland’s Route Map. To join in or for further info on the Community Food SEN, email mary@senscot.net

Welcome to September’s Sport Social Enterprise Newsletter

It’s exciting to see so many sport social enterprises having opened their doors on Monday 31 August, or planning to re-open over the next month.  However, let’s not forget that there are still challenges to overcome.  Many of these organisations will be re-opening at a reduced capacity and will need to test financial viability.  There are stringent procedures to comply with which come at a cost, financially and in terms of time allocated to regular and deep cleaning.  Hard work will be required to instil public confidence to even return to sports facilities.   And having had no opportunity to generate income over the past 6 months, cashflow will be tight.

Community sport organisations are still in a precarious position and the scale of some of these organisations, including social enterprises, means that the reality of whether some will survive, especially when all staff are brought off furlough, remains to be seen.

Organisations remain in need of immediate funding to aid cashflow and although there is a recovery fund under development, some social enterprises are not in a position to begin the recovery process and still face immediate challenges.  We remain hopeful that a package of support which is open and accessible for the whole sport sector is announced.

As always, please get in touch if there is anything I can help with.

Take care,

Jude
M| 07495 925 388 E| jude@senscot.net

SEN’s and Social Enterprises

Virtual SEN Sessions

Following the Scottish Government announcement that gyms, swimming pools and indoor sports facilities could open on Monday 31 August, subject to relevant guidance, we hosted a Sport SEN meeting on Wednesday 26 August with Graham Finnie and Kate Forbes from sportscotland to talk through new and updated guidance and answer any queries.  Over 40 people attended what was a very information session.  You can view a recording of the event here.

Scottish Government guidance

sportscotland guidance

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On Thursday 27 August, we invited Gordon Hunter, Participation Development Manager at Scottish Swimming and Sarah Robertson, Facilities Project Manager at sportscotland to talk to the Community Pool Operators who are part of the Sport SEN.  The purpose was to provide more detail and answer any questions about the Pool Operators guidance recently released by Scottish Swimming.  You can find this guidance here.

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We had an All SEN Session on Flexible Working and Mental Wellbeing planned for Monday 24 August, however due to a worldwide Zoom outage, and despite best efforts to find an alternative platform, we had to cancel this session.  Wasn’t great for the mental wellbeing of our lovely Health SEN coordinator Mary, however she has now managed to agree an alternative date with the speakers and this event will take place on Monday 14 September at 15.00.  To join contact mary@senscot.net.

Upcoming Virtual SEN Sessions

·         Sport and Health SEN Meeting:  Using Sport and Physical Activity to Promote Positive Mental Health: Wednesday 9 September 10.00 – 11.30.

This session will focus on how to use sport and physical activity to address mental health within communities.  We will hear from various speakers about their approach and the support which exists to help organisations develop programmes and initiatives on this topic. Find out more here and to join email jude@senscot.net.

·         Angus SEN Meeting – Learning to tell your story:  Wednesday 9 September 9.30 – 12.30

In Partnership with Evaluation Support Scotland, an introduction to evaluation. Register here.

·         Aberdeen SEN Meeting:  Friday 11 September at 11.00

An opportunity to look at the challenges members face coming out of lockdown, and support required.  To book email janice@senscot.net

·         Health SEN Meeting:  Wednesday 16 September 10.30 – 12noon

An opportunity to hear from Anne Conner (Outside the Box) and to explore how smaller and community-based providers can play more of a part in the world of health and social care.  To book email mary@senscot.net

·         Virtual Community Learning Exchange with Prep Table (recently merged with Scran Academy):  Thursday 17 September at 10:00.  For more info and to register

·         Community Food SEN Meeting:  Friday 18 September 10.30 – 12.00

Discuss the challenges faced moving from Phase 3 – Phase 4 of Scotland’s Route Map.  To join email mary@senscot.net

·         Employability SEN Meeting:  Wednesday 23 September 14.00-15.00

Drew Reid from Skills Development Scotland will be talking about their Skills for Growth programme.  To book email Jayne@senscot.net

·         All SEN session: Mental Health and Wellbeing Needs in Communities:  Friday 25 September (TBC)

Opportunity to come together and discuss the mental health and wellbeing needs identified within communities and to explore the social enterprise response.  To join contact mary@senscot.net

·         Joint Thematic Session:  Wed 30 September at 14.30

Discuss and explore opportunities and threats within the Culture & Creative employability landscape.  To sign up e-mail janice@senscot.net

What the Social Enterprises are up to!

Well done to Animalia CIC  who have successfully completed their Ben Nevis 24 Hour Challenge, and absolutely smashed their fundraising target!  The annual event brings people together to raise awareness of mental health and this year they were also raising awareness and money for two charities:  Loveleigh Community  and Go Gold Live .

Kingdom Offroad Motorcycle Club has been announced as a finalist in the ‘Cracking Campaign’ category of the SCVO Scottish Charity Awards !  They tackle anti-social behaviour and illegal motorcycle use by providing access to motorcycling opportunities and controlled, dedicated off road track areas.  Amazing news, well done and good luck!  Find out more and vote by 4 September here.

Moray Sports Centre has opened their brand new inclusive outdoor playpark, creating FUN for ALL families across the North East.  The park incudes equipment for households that are vulnerable, disadvantaged, and living with disabilities.  With the aim of making the playpark a family hub where anyone can meet, they have started a fundraiser to provide picnic tables around the park.  The tables will be made by a local volunteer so the funding sought is only for the materials and will contribute to helping the Moray economy to rebuild post Covid-19.  Find out more and donate here.

Movement Evolution Scotland CIC  are based in Aberdeen and deliver physical activity and ‘free spirit’ sports across the Grampian region, to ensure that young people receive access to quality movement education.  They have been very busy developing their organisation during lockdown and have increased engagement in their activities both virtually during lockdown, then through face to face delivery as restrictions eased.  They are now looking for a new home and are keen to hear from organisations in the Aberdeen area if they might have indoor space available.  Find out more here here.

Projekt42 are open again however will continue to offer various online services and programmes.  These include affordable counselling, yoga, mindfulness, kung-fu and other fitness classes.  Find out more here.

Street Soccer Scotland provide football themed training & personal development opportunities for socially disadvantaged groups across Scotland.  They recently won the regional stage of the Social Entrepreneur of the Year category of the Barclays’ Entrepreneur Awards.   This aims to recognise an organisation delivering transformative social or environmental change.  Massive well done and best of luck for the national final in November!  Find out more here.

Partners and Stakeholders

sportscotland

There are 2 webinars left in the most recent series hosted by the Changemakers consortium in partnership with sportscotland.  These relate to the Clubs and Communities Framework and the Changing Lives through sport and physical activity approach.  The session on Friday 11 September will be similar to the one we facilitated with the sportscotland Facilities team and will focus on guidance around re-opening facilities.

o   Friday 4th September – Including everyone in the sport recovery

o   Friday 11th September – Route map for community facilities

If you wish to attend please complete the following sign-up form.

Audio and slide decks from the previous webinars can be found here.

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You can find updated information on their Covid-19 information and resources webpage, with sport based guidance being updated continually as further announcements are made from Scottish Government.  https://sportscotland.org.uk/covid-19/

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There will be a ‘Getting coaches ready for sport webinar’ on Thursday 3 September at 7.30pm.  Support will be provided for coaches based on the Getting coaches ready for sport guidance.  To sign up go to https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/getting-coaches-ready-for-sport-tickets-118505873257

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A Covid Officer e-learning module has been launched.  It is recommended that organisations should appoint a Covid Officer and this training will provide key information and guidance to support individuals to carry out this role and return to sport and physical activity safely. Find out more and register here.

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#sporthour – tune in on Monday 7 September from 9pm to 10pm to join the conversation about how individuals and organisations across Scotland are playing their part in the return to sport. The conversation will look at how young people are getting involved and will be joined by a team of co-hosts; Gavin Oattes (author), Hope Gordon, paracanoe athlete and Young Scot Sport Award winner and Nicola McDonald from the Young People’s Sport Panel.

Sports Marketing Network

Please find details below of a webinar being delivered on Wednesday 16 September at 2pm by Sports Marketing Network .  It aims to introduce the concept of an Activity Economy in Scotland and how this can help drive economic recovery and improve health and wellbeing.  For further information contact Svend Elkjaer of Sports Marketing Network on svend@smnuk.com or call on 01423 326 660.  To book your free place go to https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/6176203513133261070

Connecting, enabling and driving  Scotland’s Activity Economy

Driving economic recovery, improving health & wellbeing

A free webinar introducing the concept of the Activity Economy in Scotland and how you can become involved and benefit.

An innovative collaboration, through a conference with lead-in and follow-up webinars and guides designed to develop a genuine partnership between private businesses, social enterprises, charities and public sector bodies engaged in Scotland’s activity economy.

This webinar will introduce the collaboration and some of the partners involved.

Scottish Government – Healthier Scotland

The clear your head campaign aims to highlight practical things which people can do to look after mental health and wellbeing during the coronavirus pandemic.  It’s important to stay active and they provide some tips on how you can do this and create long lasting habits.

They also highlight help and support that’s available if you do need to talk to someone.  Remember it’s ok not to be ok.

Active Scotland (Scottish Government) and Actify

The next stage of Actify’s Covid-19 project with the Scottish Government is underway.  If you are considering how to use digital tools and content as part of a blended programme delivery, find out more about developing an Actify Hub.  It’s a useful digital tool to keep your team and participants engaged and informed.  Free digital support is available to help you get started and you can find out more here.

Funding and Support

The SCVOwebsite is still the place to go for the Coronavirus Third Sector Information Hub which is the key resource for the whole third sector in responding to Covid 19.

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The Senscot Resources Webpage has key information and signposting for Social Enterprise.  We are still updating specific webpages for the thematic areas so you can find a new section called ‘Sport and Recreation Resources – Covid 19’ at the bottom of the Sport SEN Webpage.  This includes various guidanceresources and funding opportunities.

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Scottish Community Alliance (SCA) has reconfigured their highly successful Community Learning Exchanges (CLE) programme  to allow community groups to deliver their knowledge and expertise virtually to other community organisations.  Contact Jude if you are a member of the Sport SEN interested in hosting a CLE.

And Finally:

The Great British Week of Sport  runs from Saturday 19 to Sunday 27 September 2020.  ukactive and various partners will work in partnership with the European Week of Sport and inspire the nation to celebrate the power that sport and physical activity has on mental, physical and social wellbeing.  Everyone is encouraged to get involved  and #BeActive.

The week will also incorporate National Fitness Day  which is on Wednesday 23 September.   It’s a day when people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities come together to celebrate the fun of fitness and providers are encouraged to get involved  and offer opportunities for people to get active in their communities. The theme this year is Fitness Unites Us and you can use #Fitness2Me to show what fitness means to you and how it helps you unite with others.

Let’s do our bit to inspire the nation to move more and understand a bit better the benefits of an active lifestyle.