Our memberships
Voluntary Action Orkney
This is what VAO say about Social Enterprise
Social Enterprise is an idea, a way of doing business.
A social enterprise is a business that trades to tackle social problems, improve communities, people’s life chances, or the environment.
This might sound like charity work, but social enterprises are businesses.
They make and do things that earn money and make profits like any business.
It is how they work and what they do with their profit that is different: working to make a bigger difference, reinvesting the profits they make to do more good.
They do this in lots of different ways: creating jobs for people who would otherwise be left out; reinvesting profits in community projects; protecting the environment, providing vital services for people who might not get them otherwise.
It’s this combination of doing business and doing good that makes social enterprise one of the most exciting and fast-growing movements in this country and across the world.
Social Enterprises are businesses and their goal is to make a profit which is what sets them apart from community groups and charities who fundraise to support their activities.
We would call that ‘enterprising activity’ and we’re here to support both outright social enterprises and also community groups who are looking to supplement their income by selling goods or services.
Who Does It?
All kinds of people! In Orkney some social enterprises that you may have heard of are Orkney Soap Company, For Art’s Sake, Craft Hub Orkney and Orkney Cheese
Social Enterprise Scotland
Social enterprises are innovative, independent businesses that exist to deliver a specific social and/or environmental mission. Their profits are reinvested in their mission. Social enterprise is a dynamic, ethical and more sustainable way of doing business
and from the governments newly announced Social Enterprise plane [24 March 2021]
Foreword
Whilst COVID-19 has been traumatic and touched the lives of everyone it has also shone a spotlight on the persistent inequality that still exists across our society. As we move forward we need to ensure that recovering from the pandemic is about much more than just reverting back to the way things were - instead, we need to reform what we do and reimage what we want to be. Scotland's renewal must be rooted in fairness and equality. Social enterprises will be central to this work, because they point to an approach that helps us rebalance our economy and enables us to translate our aspirations around creating a wellbeing economy into a reality.
Social Enterprises across Scotland are characterised by kindness and compassion and are led by creative, caring and innovative entrepreneurs that are dedicated to making a positive difference. Now more than ever, we need a strong and resilient social enterprise sector to help move Scotland forward
Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations
The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) is the national membership organisation for the voluntary sector
Our mission is to support, promote and develop a confident, sustainable voluntary sector in Scotland
We're passionate about what the voluntary sector can achieve. Along with our community of 3,576 members and supporters, we believe that charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups make Scotland a better place
