The fourth iteration of the Just Enterprise programme delivers tailored support and learning opportunities to social enterprises and enterprising charities in Scotland. It was officially launched on Thursday 22nd June at a reception in Edinburgh attended by the Minister for Community Wealth and Public Finance, Tom Arthur MSP.
What is Just Enterprise?
Funded by the Scottish Government and delivered by a consortium of Third Sector partners led by CEIS Group, the Just Enterprise programme is designed to provide free tailored business support and resources to help enterprising third sector organisations start, sustain, recover or grow.
Since its inception in 2011, the programme has supported nearly 8,000 organisations and over 11,000 individuals across all local authorities in Scotland, which means it has a wealth of experience and expertise to draw upon.
In addition to one-to-one support for social enterprises at any stage and in any location in Scotland, Just Enterprise delivers a comprehensive programme of workshops. These cover everything from how to start your enterprise, to governance, finance, marketing, leadership skills, measuring social impact and much more.
In recent years these have been expanded to include workshops that cover funding and investment and strategic planning, and a suite of e-learning options have been developed to increase the accessibility of the training available.
The vast majority of Just Enterprise’s support and training is entirely free to access for qualifying organisations.
What’s new for Just Enterprise 4?
The new programme has been further expanded to cover key areas of the Scottish Government’s Social Enterprise Action Plan, such as guidance on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Net Zero.
This iteration of the programme aims to be the most inclusive to date, with increased targeted support for those facing additional barriers due to disability, race or socio-economic factors.
There will be a focus on producing more digital and interactive content in line with changing audience preferences and making sure that all content is as accessible as possible.
Consortium partners will also be keeping a closer ear to the ground in the sector itself to ensure that it continues to create and deliver workshops and support that keep abreast of the key issues and developments that affect our social enterprise ecosystem.
The 2023-27 Just Enterprise contract will be fulfilled by CEIS, CEMVO Scotland, Community Enterprise, Firstport, Impact Hub Inverness, Inspiralba, Inspirent (formerly LESL), SEI UK, Social Enterprise Academy, Social Investment Scotland, Social Value Lab and The Circle.
Roddy Stewart of CEIS who leads the Just Enterprise programme said:
‘The Just Enterprise partners are delighted to be working with the Scottish Government to deliver the next four years of the Business Support for Enterprising Third Sector Organisations contract.
As our sector rises to the challenge of a cost of living crisis and delivering services in an environmentally friendly way, we believe our unique partnership of support organisations can help strengthen and build the capacity and capability Scotland’s social enterprises.’
Follow Just Enterprise on social media for more information in the coming weeks and months about the new features of the Just Enterprise programme, or sign up to the mailing list at www.justenterprise.org.
Twitter: @justenterprise – https://www.twitter.com/justenterprise
LinkedIn: @just-enterprise – https://www.linkedin.com/company/just-enterprise
YouTube: @JustEnterpriseScotland https://www.youtube.com/@JustEnterpriseScotland
