Voluntary Sector Sustainability

What do we mean by Voluntary Sector Sustainability?

The Social Economy encompasses organisations existing between the private market and the public sector. It includes social enterprises, voluntary and community sector organisations, foundations, trade unions, religious bodies, housing associations, co-operatives and more. The key features that social economy organisations share are:

Participation in economic activity, whether through trading, employing staff or helping beneficiaries into work.

Clear social objectives which underpin the activities of the organisation.

Social ownership which sees surpluses reinvested in the organisation rather than distributed as dividends to private shareholders.

The Regional Forum works across the region to promote, develop and represent the social economy. We work with the Development Trusts Association, our partners in the Footsey 100 trade fair. Together with partners the Forum has helped to establish SEYH (Social Enterprise Yorkshire and the Humber) a regional network of support agencies and practitioners with a remit to support social enterprise. SEYH is a member of the Social Enterprise Coalition that works closely with government on policy to support the development of social enterprise.

The Regional Forum's role is to promote the social economy, build links with regional Government and public bodies, highlight market opportunities and lobby for support of the social economy.

If you have any queries regarding the social economy, please contact the Regional Forum on 0113 394 2300. Sign up to SEDnet, our email network on the social economy.

Latest News

Chair of the Yorkshire and Humber Assembly, welcomes the publication of the Yorkshire and Humber Plan
Peter Box, Chair of the Yorkshire and Humber Assembly, has welcomed the publication of the Yorkshire and Humber Plan. “Many organisations and individuals across the region have put a lot of effort ...

NCVO Barclays Leadership Programme 2008 - apply now for an excellent Leeds opportunity!
Outstanding civil society leaders demonstrate a potent blend of qualities and are key to guiding their organisations to become all they can be. The new NCVO Barclays Leadership Programme will enable ...

Big Lottery funding for ground breaking on-line learning resource for charity workers and volunteers
The project will deliver an e-learning network, designed specifically for the broad Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) and will concentrate on informal learning. It will NOT re-invent the wheel, and...

Upcoming Events

09/07/2008: Empowering the Voluntary Sector
** This workshop is now fully booked but NAVCA is organising similar workshops elsewhere. Visit www.navca.org.uk/evs for details ** Venue: The Regional Forum, Leeds Time: 9.00am to 4.30pm A ...