Enw'r sefydliad: Community Housing Cymru
Cyflwynwyd: 08/04/2009 gan sioned-hughes@chcymru.org.uk
- Busnes craidd y sefydliad: Membership body for Registered Social Landlords in Wales
- Beth fydd y prosiect yn ei wneud?: Building Enterprise- Improving Access to Services To improve access to key services via the development of social enterprise services within community assets which exist in the housing sector. Crucial to building sustainable communities is access to jobs, services, markets and facilities - an underlying principle of the social housing movement. The current economic downturn increases the need for additional community investment. As the economy slides deeper into recession there is a very real danger that energy and resources are targeted at those who have most recently affected by redundancy or those at risk of losing existing jobs. New entrants to the labour market and long term unemployed are at risk of further marginalisation. In this context the relevance of social enterprise solutions to groups pushed even further from the labour market becomes even more important. Never before has the priority of developing more entrepreneurial approaches to challenging deep-rooted patterns of disadvantage and poverty been more urgent. RSLs are ideally placed to support social enterprise and develop more community assets because they: Play a key role in disadvantaged areas Operate in areas of market failure Work with the most disadvantaged Manage and develop assets - including community assets that could be put to use for local benefit Are a major procurer of goods and services They are simultaneously building social capital, putting communities in control and playing an active role in building community cohesion. The project proposes a number of interventions to equip the sector to respond to the above:: 1. Building on the capacity to create more community owned assets - including community hubs, community premises and land for recreational, leisure, green spaces and allotments. ; - It is widely accepted that one of the essential building blocks for successful community led regeneration is the critical role that community owned assets play. Assets strengthen a community's ability to provide services, raise income streams and provide services. 2. Make the housing association pound work harder - in particular to establish more social enterprise estate based services; - The social housing sector are major procurers of good and services. The challenge is to use this purchasing power to leverage even more community benefits at a local level. The project will provide a vehicle for joint service commissioning opportunities- which can also lead to considerable efficiency savings. Many social enterprises look beyond traditional public service delivery mechanisms to develop services in a more holistic way Intervention is required to: Support the development of new social enterprises to deliver new estate based services - especially in local economies where SME levels of activity are low. Develop partnering agreements with existing committed locally based SMEs to help them win new business and deliver added value Undertake thorough reviews of additional areas of regular Housing Association expenditure to scope new opportunities to deliver sustainable businesses. 3. Support the social enterprise potential to bring forward new energy and fuel poverty projects; - the sector is at the forefront to meeting Wales' low carbon targets. As the energy efficiency/renewable energy market place grows - opportunities for social enterprise to be at the heart should be explored. In particular where tenants and residents can benefit from training and jobs. Providing 'soft' support to tenants and residents in communities where there have been energy programmes is vital - in particular to highlight the benefits that new technologies can deliver and training for householders on how to maximise the benefits. This work needs to take place at community level - and would be most effectively delivered through locally based social enterprises and from community hubs. 4. Connecting, Sharing, Learning and Mentoring - The strength of the housing association movement is its ability share what it is doing to enable others to learn and do. In the context of supporting social enterprise the level and depth of experience varies widely across Wales. Linkages with developments in the wider UK are often patchy. It is important that leaders looking to grow social enterprise opportunities should have support: from peers and other experts who have 'been there and done it' and 1:1 and in learning sets, where applicable.
- Ardaloedd gofodol y bydd y prosiect yn eu cynnwys: Holl Ardal Gydgyfeirio
- Pwy fydd y buddiolwyr yn y pen draw?: Social enterprises and their employees, RSLs (as employees) and their residents, wider community.
- Pa ganlyniadau allai fod i'r prosiect?: RSLs, WCVA, Wales Co-op, Development Trust Wales, Third Sector Partners and organisations.
- Pa allbynnau (mesurau gweithgarwch) allai fod i'r prosiect?: Organisations assisted - 25; Individual assisted to set up a new social enterprise - 7;
- Pa ganlyniadau allai fod i'r prosiect?: Investment Induced - £500,000; People accessing services - 5000; Social Enterprises created - 7
- Beth fyddai effaith y prosiect?: contributing to economic growth by generating a significant proportion of GDP - particularly in the most deprived communities; contributing to economic and social wellbeing; providing support and employment for those disadvantaged in the job market; regenerating communities by bringing essential public services to under-served areas; developing unused land and buildings for the benefit of the community; and providing high-quality employment in deprived areas.
- Beth yw'r amcangyfrif o gost y prosiect?: £2,000,000