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Community Shares Action Research: promoting enterprise, equity and engagement through community shares and bonds

29 October 2009

Today, at the Good Deals Social Investment conference, Angela Smith - Minister for the Third Sector - announced that a further five community-owned social enterprises have been selected to take part in a Government-funded research project looking at new ways for social enterprises to attract finance.

The research, which started earlier this year, is examining the potential of community shares and bonds as a way to attract extra investment. This includes inviting ten social enterprises to test the idea, looking at barriers that could restrict their growth and how they can be overcome. The successful social enterprises receive a package of funding and support and their experiences will be used to support future policy development in this area. 

Five social enterprises were invited to take part earlier this year, the second five benefiting from the second round of support are:

• Hurst Green Community Shop & Centre, East Sussex, which aims to raise finance to renovate a local church to provide a community shop, post office, youth centre and drop in health centre.
• Tutbury Hydro Electric Project (THEP), River Dove, on the Staffordshire/Derbyshire border, which aims to reinstate the mill fleam (a man-made water course running alongside the park) and install a micro hydro electric plan.
• Sheffield Renewables Ltd, River Don, Sheffield, which plans to develop a small scale hydro scheme.
• Oxford Cycle Workshop Training Ltd, Oxford, which provides community cycle training and is seeking community investment.
• Brixton Green, London, which aims to galvanise a central Brixton community into working together to build a better neighbourhood by enabling them to invest directly in a regeneration building programme.

Ed Mayo, Chief Executive Designate of Co-operativesUK, said: 

“Community investment is about community engagement and this is at the core of the co-operative way of business. For example, Oxford Cycle Workshop already has an excellent track record of engaging with local young people and improving skills and confidence. Sheffield Renewables demonstrates co-operatives' continued commitment to renewable forms of energy.  I think other communities will want to follow their example. “

Angela Smith, Minister for the Third Sector, said:

“Like all the projects in our Social Enterprise Action Research Programme the "Community Shares" project is truly exciting. Not only is it helping government learn about social enterprises, but social enterprises themselves will also benefit from the research. This project will help us understand what Government can do to support communities who want to invest directly in local social enterprises solving local problems. My ambition is that in the future more communities will be able to benefit from lessons we learn through the project."

This project is part of a £1.3m Social Enterprise Action Research programme, funded by the Office of the Third Sector, enabling departments across government to explore the role social enterprise can play in helping them meet their policy objectives - from tackling climate change to managing the nation’s health.

Please visit the website below for more information on the Community Shares project:

• Community Shares [external website]