Free courses to support Wirral social enterprises and voluntary groups

Mar 22 2011

MORE than 150 free places are being made available to Wirral social enterprises and voluntary groups for a series of one-day courses to help lessen the impact of changes in funding.

With many organisations across Merseyside due to face reductions in their budgets from the start of the new financial year in April, Social Enterprise North West (SENW) has arranged seminars to equip staff and managers with the necessary skills to potentially win new contracts.

They range from making sure social enterprises have the correct governance to having the proper procurement systems in place in anticipation of winning new contracts.

Places are on a first-come basis and organisers believe there will be limited opportunities to access funded training in future years.

The social enterprise sector in the North West and Merseyside generates around £3bn annually to the economy, employs more than 50,000 staff and harnesses the capacity of 30,000 volunteers.

Val Jones, chief executive at Social Enterprise North West, said: "At a time like this, it is important that we offer practical support to the sector which is facing reductions to its existing funding. The challenge now is to help those organisations to identify and capitalise on new opportunities to fund their services."

The courses have been fully funded by the Office for Civil Society through the North West Regional Development Agency, so delegate places are free and include lunch and refreshments.

The courses, which will run from 9:30am to 4:30pm at Liverpool CVS, 151 Dale Street, Liverpool, L2 2AH, are:

PR and Marketing Master Class: Monday, March 28

Impact Assessment Master Class; Tuesday, March 29

Good Governance Master Class; Wednesday, March 30

Contract and Procurement Master Class; Thursday, March 31

To book, call Social Enterprise North West on 0151 237 3986 or click www.senw.org.uk