A Brief Introduction

1
A Brief Introduction

• Enterprising solutions for social inclusion

2
What is a Social Firm?

• A social firm is a small business created to
  provide supported employment opportunities for
  people with a disability or other disadvantage in
  the labour market
• More than 50 of income from sales
• More than 25 of staff with a disability or
  disadvantage
• Value base of social firms
• Integrated employment
• Same terms and conditions
• Supported working environment
• Market focused
• Participative management style

3
How Does it all fit?
Socially Responsible Businesses
Charities Voluntary Sector
Government (inc NDGBs)
Private Sector
Social Enterprises
?The Social Economy ?
Income from Sales
Grants
Taxes
Private Goals
Social Goals
Political Goals
4
Background to the sector

• Over 2,000 social firms in Italy
• employing 16,000 disabled people
• Over 250 in Germany
• employing 3,100 disabled people
• 45 in UK, 119 emerging social firms
• 1300 jobs/723 for people with disabilities

5
Who do social firms provide jobs for?

• 60 enduring mental health problems
• 30 learning difficulties
• 10 other high support needs

• Cannot sustain open employment
• Furthest away from the job market
• Prefer to work alongside others who understand

6
Why do we need social firms?

• Low employment rates
• People with disabilities want to work
• Want to overcome barriers to employment
• Want employment related activity rather than day
  care
• Lack of supportive work opportunities
• Alternative labour market
• Employment is a health issue
• Less costly than keeping someone in traditional
  services
• Current interventions do not work

7
Opportunities within social firms

• Testing the water and trying work in a supportive
  environment
• Adjusting to a work routine and building up
  stamina
• The sense of having a real job with real pay
• Progressing through the social firm
• Moving into the open labour market

8
Why Social Firms?

• Individual Benefits
• 64 reported improved mental health
• 40 improved social functioning
• 44 less social isolation
• 47 reduction in use of medication
• 98 reduction in the use of day centres and
  hospitals

9
What employees said.
There is a certain status that comes with having
a job.
Getting up at a certain time, meeting people and
just feeling better at the end of the day that
youve participated in some kind of work.
One of the benefits of a social firm is getting a
wage packet like everybody else.
I have an interest in what I do but theres more
to it. Its working with people who have been
ill and understand what youre going through.
It keeps your mind off your own problems and
gives you something to think about.
Its tailoring the job and tailoring the
timescale. I have times when Im brilliant and
other times when I have failings.
The one big difference is you can have bad days
but the jobs still there for you.
From Mind the Gap, Social Firms Scotland, 2003
10
Why Social Firms?

• Community Benefits
• Increased employment opportunities for service
  users and non service users
• Increased community wealth via
• Employee wages spent locally
• Business surplus reinvested to grow the business
• Business use of local resources
• Service user employment seen as nothing unusual
  (social inclusion benefits)

11
Examples of social firm development

• Green Tracks
• Coach House Trust
• Six Marys Place
• Shetland Soap Company
• Solstice Nurseries
• Touchwood

12
Social Firms Scotland

• National Membership based organisation
• Voluntary Board with service user representation
• Services
• Information
• Business development
• Service user involvement

13
Experience of the social firm sector

• SFS Network made up of
• Large/small charities REHAB Scotland/Capability
  Scotland/Turning Point Scotland/Enable/SAMH etc
• Local authority projects
• Private enterprise
• Service users want new forms of employment
  related activity
• Not everyone will move into open employment due
  to severity of disability but can be productive
  given support

14
Enterprising solutions for social inclusion

• Social Firms Scotland promotes and supports the
  creation and development of social firms
  throughout Scotland to increase employment
  opportunities for people with a disability or
  disadvantage
• Awareness raising
• Seminars/events
• Training legal structures, finance, strategic
  management etc
• Development of stakeholder involvement
• Tailored business support
• Service user partnership
• Employee Support Programme
• Research

15
Why is there a need for the work we do?

• Organisation vs private individual
• Change of culture
• Lengthy process
• Intensive process
• Mainstream support not appropriate
• Ensure service user involvement
• Working to remove the barriers to employment

16
(No Transcript)
17
Contact details

• Janice Barnett
• Development Co-ordinator (North East
  Tayside)
• Social Firms Scotland
• Tel [phone]
• Email janice.barnett_at_socialfirms.org.uk
• www.socialfirms.org.uk