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About us
Co-operative and Community Finance
Co-operative & Community Finance has been providing loan finance for co-operatives, employee owned businesses and social enterprises for over 30 years.
We raise money primarily by public share issue, and we lend it for social purpose and collective benefit. We also manage loan funds for several other organisations which invest in the “not for private profit” sector. We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in the conduct of investment business.
Co-operative and Community Finance encourages local economic regeneration by enabling people to create, own and democratically control the businesses in which they work, or which operate in their local community. Co-operative and Community Finance funds are available to enterprises which practise or support principles of co-operation, common ownership, employee, community or social ownership, equal opportunity and workplace democracy, and sustainable development.
www.co-opandcommunityfinance.coop
The East of England Development Agency (EEDA)
The East of England Development Agency is the driving force behind sustainable economic growth and regeneration in the East of England. We are one of nine regional development agencies (RDAs). Our task is to improve the region's economic performance and ensure the East of England remains one of the UK's top performing regions.
EEDA has defined three key roles:
- Setting and shaping the direction of economic development in the East of England
- Persuading and influencing others to bring resources together to find innovative ways to solve challenging economic issues
- Investing in imaginative projects that challenge the norm and will have a significant impact on economic development in the East of England.
Investing in Communities is one of EEDA’s four key areas of activity, focusing on enabling economic inclusion, and designing solutions that address the problems and barriers which prevent people from achieving their full potential and contributing to the region's development and growth.
http://www.eeda.org.uk/investingincommunities.asp
The Plunkett Foundation
The Plunkett Foundation is an educational charity which aims to improve rural livelihoods through co-operative and social enterprise. The Foundation draws on 80 years' practical experience of working with partners from the private sector to promote and implement economic self-help solutions to rural problems.
The Plunkett Foundation is commonly considered a leading centre of expertise on rural social enterprise. It advocates and supports economic self-help as an effective instrument for meeting the needs of rural communities. Plunkett also manages ViRSA, a specialist advice and support network for setting up and running community owned shops, providing vital lifeline to vulnerable communities.
The scope of Plunkett activities is broad, and includes:
- Facilitation of solutions to rural need;
- Working with local leaders and entrepreneurs to enable change;
- Development of rural and social enterprise policy;
- Grant award management for national and regional government and statutory bodies
- Specialist social enterprise advice, mentoring support alongside grant provision
- Training and knowledge transfer to rural enterprise and business, with expertise in director development, strategy, governance and business planning
Social Enterprise East of England
Covering six counties, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk; SEEE is both a membership organization for social enterprises and a strategy and policy organization.
SEEE’s primary aim is to embed social enterprise firmly into the economic framework of the region, and to show measurable and significant social and economic impact. At SEEE our vision is a prosperous and vibrant social enterprise sector in the East of England.
SEEE exists to build and strengthen the platform for a thriving social enterprise movement to ensure the growth and increase of the diversity, prosperity and sustainability of the Social Enterprise Sector and partners in the East of England.
