Social Enterprise West Midlands (SEWM CIC) is the independent voice and business network for social enterprise in the West Midlands.

Our role is to:

1. Raise awareness and understanding of social enterprise – either directly or with our members we undertake a range of activities to profile social enterprise as a credible business model and sector. We want to see more people starting up, working for, investing in, and buying from social enterprises.

2. Inform and influence social enterprise policy – we regularly consult and engage with our members to ensure we are able to effectively voice and represent their views, concerns and needs to policy makers and funders. This is particularly the case in relation to improving business support for social enterprise and the delivery of public services.

3. Champion ‘Social Enterprise: The Time is Now’ – in 2010 we launched our vision and prospectus for social enterprise in the West Midlands, which sets out calls to action for social enterprises, business advice agencies, investors, public sector bodies and active citizens in helping to make the vision a reality.

4. Facilitate networking, knowledge exchange and collaborative working opportunities – we facilitate opportunities for members to network, share good practice, work together, develop their skills and knowledge base.

Our work delivers on three key priorities which are set out in 'The Time is Now' - our vision for social enterprise in the West Midlands.

1. Making social enterprise the first choice – Helping more people to understand social enterprise and how to get involved with the sector.

Some of our current activities include:

* buySe.co.uk – The National Social Enterprise Directory
* Ambassador Programmes
* Se - our quarterly magazine

2. Enabling the sector to thrive – encouraging social enterprises to develop, understand and respond to the needs of the market.

3. Strengthening support for the sector - working to improve access to appropriate and high quality business support for social enterprises.

* 4SE – Business Support Professionals Network

Keep up to date with our work by joining Social Enterprise West Midlands today. More information can be found on our website: www.socialenterprisewm.org.uk

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