Exploring Social Value with Bremar Wellbeing
Our very own Stephen McGarry will be joining an esteemed panel of speakers at a unique conference organised by our friends, and Social Economy Village stalwarts, Bremar Wellbeing.
An informative morning awaits to hear about social value and the importance to business and the local economy. The open workshop seeks to demystify issues such as
- What is required from those responsible for writing tenders
- How social value is measured
- How can companies evidence compliance with this requirement.
For more information, contact the team at Bremar 02896 936 186 or email office@bremartraining.com
Find out more & access tickets at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/exploring-social-value-tickets-735337944587?aff=oddtdtcreator
Social Innovation in Housing & Homelessness
The Work West team were able to celebrate with teams supported through the unique Social Innovation programme supported by Community Foundation NI.
£160,000 grant funding was awarded through a ground breaking Participatory Budgeting processes held at the Braid Theatre in Ballymena. Eight groups pitched their ideas to a full auditorium made up of groups working on housing issues, those with lived experience and others who voted to allocate up to £25,000 per group.
The Community Foundation’s Community Solutions to Housing and Homelessness programme supports the development, testing, and delivery of new ideas and collaborations addressing the root causes of housing issues and homelessness, by working with a range of organisations and giving voice to individuals with lived experience.
Find out more: https://communityfoundationni.org/news/160000-delivered-for-housing-and-homelessness-projects/
#BuySocial with Storybox NI
My oh my, what a box of goodies!
Our friends at Storybox NI are excited to share that the 'Kids box' is now live & available to order!
Featuring three fantastic social enterprise, all of whom were supported via Work West : )
Best brownies in the world recipe kit - Refuge Chocolate
Grow your own herb garden - Science Starz
Little WayMaker adjustable apron - WayMaker Child Therapy
A fun activity/gift idea with 100% social value behind it! This box has been brought together to encourage little ones to get creative through baking some yummy brownies or by putting together their very own herb garden which they can see grow and eventually be used in some of their parent or guardian’s cooking. These kits are accompanied with a Little Waymaker adjustable apron to help keep clothes nice and clean through those hands on activities!
A fun and worthwhile pastime sorted for some of those rainy days during summer!
All goods within this box have been sourced from social enterprises based in Northern Ireland.
Find out more: bit.ly/3rTMIrp
New Social Enterprise support for Ards & North Down
Having worked to support new start social enterprise in the Ards & North Down area for over 20 years the Work West team are excited to continue our partnership with Ards & North Down Borough Council to deliver the ANDSEP programme 2021-23.
Fully funded by Ards & North Down Borough Council the programme offers a flexible programme of mentoring support to social enterprises in the borough complemented by a series of group workshops.
So, if you are and existing social enterprise but need some support to develop or if you have an idea for a new social enterprise, the ANDSEP Programme is here to help.
Contact helen@workwest.co.uk to find out more.
NI embraces Creative Problem Solving
Work West were delighted to welcome Laura Barbero Switalski to Northern Ireland for the first time for a 2-day workshop in Creative Problem Solving workshop.
At Work West we have trained hundreds of educators, professionals and Students over the past four years through our Design Thinking workshops, promoting break-through innovations and developing creative problem-solving skills.
Laura, a leading trainer, facilitator and coach from Darwin Associates, Buffalo, New York facilitated the group of enterprise, education and impact focused organisations to develop their skills as we continue to support the development of innovation and creative problem-solving skills.
Visit our Design Thinking page for more on our work in this field.
