PSEN Coronavirus Response and Recovery FINAL

PSEN has published this plan to help us both respond to the immediate Coronavirus/Covid-19 crisis but also look forward to the recovery phase.

Our simple vision is that our members, social enterprises and indeed all businesses and community groups in the city emerge in a healthy position.

We know that this will be hard. We have had contact with a number of social enterprises that are struggling and some that have closed for the moment. We hope these re-open and recover in due course. We are also hearing of social enterprises that have moved online with relative ease and those that are providing a range of innovative services like Livewell Southwest, Nudge and Real Ideas Organisation.

Response

Some of our key aims during this response phase are to:

  • Facilitate the exchange of advice and business support for our members. We have our own resources here and we have worked with Plymouth City Council and Plymouth Octopus Project to create a dedicated page of information on the Council’s website.
  • Gather information about the impact of Coronavirus/Covid-19 on our members and advocate for their needs to relevant organizations such as national and local government
  • Work with and support SEUK and other social enterprise places on the national response. More information on that here.

More specifically, we have been proactively phoning our members to check in with them. We’ve not called everyone yet so if we’ve not spoken to you let us know. We’ve put our events schedule online. We’ve already held events on using Zoom and on HR advice for social enterprises. Another event lined up is on PR and digital marketing. Other events will be published soon.

We’ve also created a pool of business experts who can provide free business advice on topics such as: tech, Crowdfunding, PR, governance, investment, social impact, finance, team management. communications and more.

We are regularly updating our social media and news feeds with up to date sector news and information too.

Recovery

We want a more pro-social, more inclusive and regenerative economy to emerge post-crisis. Social enterprises need to be at the heart of the recovery and embedded in economic and heath policy making. Without social enterprises a future economy that goes back to ‘business as usual’ will only compound inequalities and make recovery harder. We need a healthy workforce with decent, productive jobs that enhances, not damages, the environment. Social enterprises are delivering this as our recently published research proves.

We are in the early stages of developing the ‘recovery’ phase but our early ideas are to:

  • Bring members together to collaboratively inform how we work together as a sector
  • Advocate for a more pro-social, inclusive and regenerative economy through online events, blogs and content
  • Work in solidarity with other social enterprise networks across the region and the country
  • Advocate for social enterprises to be supported and firmly embedded in the recovery with economic policy makers such as Local Enterprise Partnership, City Council, Plymouth Growth Board, University of Plymouth and relevant others.

Please get in touch with us about your immediate needs and ideas for the future recovery.

Plymouth Social Enterprise Network
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