Equal-Works

Background

It is widely acknowledged that barriers exist for policy makers and mainstream business support services when engaging with excluded communities living in areas of deprivation. The REFLEX model of enterprise development and support was designed by the Equal Round One development partnership of the same name, for use in communities who have experienced social exclusion in the labour market. Supporting Inclusion in Enterprise Development (SIED) was formed to further develop the model for application throughout deprived communities in London with potential for use nationally.

SIED has been developing new, innovative working structures and tools designed to overcome barriers to enterprise development. The Association of Community Based Business Advice (ACBBA) was created to ensure the long-term sustainability and development of the REFLEX model to complement existing mainstream enterprise support.

Aims

SIED aims to increase enterprise development and self-employment by disadvantaged groups living in deprived areas of London through the development of new and innovative social inclusion approaches and with a view to extending the model nationally.

• Create an organisation (ACBBA) to support business ventures by members of disadvantaged and minority community groups and provide an effective vehicle for NGO’s working at a community level to deliver high quality enterprise support
• Foster improved access from mainstream business support agencies and their operators to create an enterprise culture and engagement with skills and knowledge in VCS
• Involve NGO’s that represent ethnic minorities, refugees, women, disabled people and faith communities in programmes developing enterprise and self-employment for these groups
• Increase the skills and knowledge of business advisors employed directly by NGO’s and develop ongoing programmes for their support and development
• Explore new ways of accreditation and quality models for community-based business advice
• Develop new solutions to giving business advice and support for enterprise development in languages other than English
• Develop innovative forms of micro-credit for new enterprises developed by members of excluded communities who have been in receipt of state benefits
• Research, identify and quantify the nature and characteristics of social factors influencing enterprise development in communities living in areas of multiple deprivation
• Build effective networks of support among entrepreneurs from disadvantaged communities
• Devise new delivery mechanisms that combine the best tools for enterprise support developed by other DPs who offer innovative training to specific disadvantaged communities (particularly refugees and women) with approaches developed by community-based business advisors
• Build new models to ensure the ongoing inclusion of new and emerging communities in enterprise support
• Develop appropriate information resources and advocacy mechanisms for people changing from an income on benefit to an income from enterprise
• Ensure maximum impact of key findings and good practice on policy audiences through work with transnational partners and an extensive programme of thematic networking.

• Unemployed
• Disadvantaged communities

SIED builds on work developed by REFLEX, a successful Equal Round One partnership.