Strengthening civil society; sharing ideas - by Morven Masterton

We recently held our first social investment networking event, bringing together social investment champions from across the UK to share ideas and network at an informal gathering in central London. Community leaders and entrepreneurs came from far and wide to meet, mingle and machinate on the future of civil society in times of increasing demand on services and fewer sources of income.

In advance of the Comprehensive Spending Review (delivered by Chancellor George Osborne MP on Wednesday 20 October), the event was an opportunity for some of the country’s most inspiring projects to meet similar organisations, share their experiences and discuss a wide range of subjects including public service delivery and commissioning of services, accessing capital and partnership working.

Feedback has been extremely positive, and the overwhelming sense is that such events provide a useful opportunity to meet others in the field, particularly for smaller organisations operating below the radar in local areas. One attendee stressed that “The value of networking with other 'social pioneers' was refreshing and stimulating”, noting that “working as a social enterprise leader can sometimes be quite a lonesome task.” Another champion said that the event had been very useful: “by chance I met people from organisations near to ours - geographically and in aims.”

We know that funding is a critical issue for the sector but successful civil society organisations need more than just money. By helping civil society organisations network and share intelligence as well as prosper through better access to finance, support and long term strategic thinking we are doing our bit to ensure that being a leader of a civil society organisation isn’t such a ‘lonesome task’.

To further encourage shared learning, we recently filmed a number of organisations who have received investment from the funds managed by The Social Investment Business to showcase the innovative and critical work carried out by charities, social enterprises and community groups and to celebrate the vibrancy of the sector. We already have a couple of really great examples of community organisations funded by us available to watch online and more are coming soon.

Following the feedback we had about our initial networking event, we are planning another one in the north of England in early December. We’d like to introduce more of our social investment champions to each other and to take the opportunity to ask organisations we have invested in for feedback on the services you need to help operate effectively and efficiently in a time of austerity.

If you are interested in attending this or future events or would like to become a social investment champion please get in touch by emailing policy@thesocialinvestmentbusiness.org.