1
Chapter
Introduction and Background
1.1 Copius Consulting Ltd and FPM Chartered Accountants LLP and Limavady Community
Business Development
This report is the culmination of Peace II extension funding for the Limavady Community Forum
in respect of the Community Business Development Programme that had successfully run under a
one-year pilot in 2005, culminating in a research paper on the sustainability of the sector and the
impact of the project in August 2007.
During that period significant support and assistance was provided to the Voluntary and
Community Sector in the Limavady Borough. This was in the main provided by the Council
Community Development Unit and the Limavady Community Forum. The support took the form
of professional advice and advocacy as well as the provision of skills training and, as is the case
with the majority of the Community / Voluntary Sector, much needed financial assistance.
The Social Economy is a concept that has been long advocated by the Labour Government as a
means to empower and provide community and voluntary sector organisations with the skills to
become self sustainable and independent purveyors of their own strategic direction. This
approach carries with it significant benefits, for instance the longer term cost reduction for
health, education, employability and economic agendas, not to mention the enhanced
community infrastructure and capacity exists, which cumulatively can make an area, in this
case, Limavady, a more attractive place to live and work.
Copius Consulting Ltd and FPM Chartered Accountants LLP is a strategic partnership that has
delivered many cutting edge consultancy commissions both in Northern Ireland and the UK.
Copius Consulting Ltd is a Community Development specialising Consultancy company, originally
formed as a means to make easier the complicated Public Funding processes for the Community
and Voluntary Sector. The organisation, in its relatively young life has secured substantial Public
and Private Sector investment to Community and Voluntary Sector organisations as well as having
worked extensively with a number of Northern Ireland’s Premier Social Economy Enterprises,
some of which will be considered in the relevant benchmarking section of this document, Section
3.4.
FPM was established in Newry in August 1991 and is a client-focused, euro friendly chartered
accountancy and business consultancy, partnership practice with offices in Newry, Belfast
Dungannon and Dundalk. A member of Polaris Independent Accountants International network
with offices located throughout the world, FPM has specialist skills in accounts preparation,
audit, tax planning, cross border business and tax advice, business consultancy, strategic
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planning, corporate finance, financial management, project management, wealth management
and public sector consultancy including economic appraisals and evaluations.
FPM continue to conduct substantial appraisal processes for many of the largest public funding
agencies in Ireland, including International Fund for Ireland, Co-operation Ireland, Invest NI as
well as Government agencies to include, Department for Social Development, Department for
Enterprise, Trade and Industry and Department for Rural Development.
Having been successful in the tender for this particular piece of work, the strategic partners have
committed to investigate and identify the relevant information, resources, skills and capacity to
deliver on the desired outcomes of the commission. The agreed goals the Consultant team
adopted were as follows;

Investigate and signpost the provision of the opportunities for training to build the
capacity of the groups, which will lead to a strong community infrastructure

Engage with groups and assess the ability to take forward a community business to
enable them to become self-sustainable. This will have included those perceived
successful community businesses in Limavady Borough as well as through the wider audit
of all identified community organisations.

Suggest structures that can provide opportunities for networking to include statutory,
voluntary agencies and small businesses to share good practice
By animating to these goals and through this report it is anticipated that the following outcomes
will be delivered.

The community infrastructure will have a clearer understanding of the Social Economy and
its direct relevance to Limavady Borough.

That the necessary skills and attributes to operate successfully within the Third Sector can
be identified and obtained in Limavady

That exemplars of positive social enterprise across Northern Ireland can afford social
entrepreneurs the opportunity to share good practice, identify problems and pitfalls and
survive in a competitive open market.

That the Third Sector is alive and well in Limavady Borough and that the Community
Infrastructure can be embellished through some further strategic direction.

That Limavady Community Forum can play a much more proactive and progressive role in
the Community Voluntary Sector within the Limavady Borough.
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1.2
The Scope /Boundaries of this Study
When considering the impact of a project such as this it is important that we qualify the
boundaries and parameters for this study. To this end we have attempted to provide a holistic
overview of the Limavady Borough in bite size sub sections relating to the geography,
demography and spatial overview.
1.2.1
Geographic Profile
The Limavady Borough is situated in the North West of Northern Ireland and covers approximately
586 square kilometres (239 square miles). The Borough has a strong manufacturing base with new
technology companies recently attracted and a quality tourist product and local hotels.
The Borough also has a significant army base (due to close in 2008) and HMP Magilligan within its
boundaries.
Coleraine.
It is strategically located between larger urban populations in Derry City and
It is close to City of Derry Airport and the Council area hosts the Magilligan-
Greencastle ferry.
The perceived larger towns in the Borough, Include Limavady itself and also Dungiven in the
foothills of the Glenshane Pass and Ballykelly heading north towards Derry.
1.2.2
Demographic Profile
The Borough has a substantial rural population and a proportionately large number of farms. The
rural community accounts for approximately 63% of the total population and 2.4% of farm
business in Northern Ireland. In 2005 there were a total of 646 farms in the Borough, employing
1,293 people, nearly 15% of the workforce. While Limavady has 1.9% of the total population of
Northern Ireland, 1,293 people were employed on the farms in Limavady represent 2.5% of the
total workforce employed on farms in Northern Ireland. It also represents 14.7% of the 8,814
total employee jobs in the Borough in 2003.
Although not an express focus of this report, it is worthy of note that Rural life and trades such
as farming have suffered in recent years, compounded by problems presented by Foot and Mouth
disease outbreaks, Bird Flu and now decreasing economic activity as suppliers seek to source
produce from cheaper sources. These characteristics are certainly not restricted to the Limavady
area, indeed it is a Northern Ireland wide phenomena and the ability to adapt and change are
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messages, through this social economy process, that may encourage the rural communities to
think laterally of their means to generate sustainable incomes.
Limavady Borough Council has 15 elected members drawn from three electoral areas Bellarena,
Benbradagh and Limavady town.
The Council make-up after the 2005 local government elections was:

Six Sinn Fein (40% of seats);

Three Democratic Unionist Party (20% of seats);

Three Social Democratic and Labour Parties (20%);

Two Ulster Unionist Party (13%);

One UUAP (7%).
The 2001 census indicated that an estimated 32,422 people were living in the borough of
Limavady. Equating to some 10,000 households, living within the 15 wards of the borough this
represents just fewer than 2% of Northern Ireland’s total population.
Approximately 57% of the Borough was from a Roman Catholic community background and 42%
from a Protestant community background. Three wards – Dungiven, Feeny and Upper Glenshane –
have large Roman Catholic community background majorities and smaller protestant minorities.
Most wards in the Borough have significant minority populations, reflecting the make-up of the
Borough as a whole.
Limavady Borough has 8284 children, 20,371 persons of working age and 3767 pensioners,
representing 26%, 63% and 12% of the total local population respectively. The most populated
wards are Greysteel and Aghanloo where 7010 live, representing 22% of the area’s total
population. The least populated ward is Roeside where 1466 people live.
Over the ten-year period 1991-2001, the population increased by 10%, compared to a 7% increase
in Northern Ireland as a whole. In this same period, the number of children (under 16) decreased
by 5%, while the number of persons of working age and pensionable age increased by 21% and
18% respectively. It is worth noting that the rate of increase for people of working age is more
than double the Northern Ireland average population predictions over the fifteen-year period
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2000-2015 predict an expected growth in the elderly population, in Limavady Borough, to be
almost two and a half times the Northern Ireland average.
Limavady has a large working age population and a wide sectoral employment mix, with a higher
than average dependence on core manufacturing businesses, employing over 25%. These are
higher than both the UK and Northern Ireland averages. In recent years, diversification into
electronics and computer products industries has been endorsed by the decision of investors to
locate in the area.
This is an interesting observation as it presents a corollary, whereby the ability for higher
concentration of specific skills sets makes the area industrially viable, however the dependence
on these specific industries and the affirming of accepted norms in terms of particular skills can
mean that people do not possess the drive or desire that entrepreneurship, in this instance social
entrepreneurship can bring.
The population density in the borough is 57 persons per square kilometre, compared with a
Northern Ireland average of 125. In terms of population density, Limavady is the 5th least dense
area in Northern Ireland, which reflects the predominantly rural nature of the borough and its
demography.
This in itself presents a number of challenges for this process as making available suitable and
essential training in central locations seems certain to alienate certain groups / community
associations at the expense of others. Also should best practice sharing workgroups be
established, the citing of these same groups will also present a challenge. At this early juncture
we feel it is important to stress the present and potential pivotal role that Limavady Community
Forum can play in energising the social economy in Limavady.
1.2.3
Social Deprivation in Limavady
Social disadvantage is assessed using the Noble Indices of Multiple Deprivation (MDM). Across the
present 26 local authority areas there are 582 electoral wards and 890 Super Output areas. Each
is assessed using the domains from 1-582 with 1 being the most deprived and 582 the least
deprived.
Of the 582 wards in Northern Ireland, Limavady Borough has wards that range from the 31st most
disadvantaged (Greystone) to 452nd (Rathbrady).
However, within those wards there are a
number of areas perceived as having significant socio-economic need, a number of these wards
are identified at Super Output and Census Output Area profile. The data below highlights the
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key socio-economic indicators from the Census and other management sources. Data has been
rounded to the nearest percentage throughout.
The Multiple Deprivation Measures indicate that Binevenagh, Coolessan and Feeny are the
three most deprived wards in the borough. Of the 15 wards within Limavady Borough, two
(Binevenagh and Coolessan) rank within the 100 most deprived in Northern Ireland, with the
Feeny ward being placed within the next group of 100 most deprived wards. In terms of
population, 10% of the borough’s population live within the 100 most deprived wards in
Northern Ireland and 6% live in the next 100 most deprived wards. Where the Super Output
Area ranks in the top 20% most deprived for any particular index the ranking is given in
bold.
SOA
Multiple
deprivati
on
Income
Employ
ment
Health
&
disab'y
Educ'n,
skills &
training
Proximi
ty to
service
s
Living
environ
ment
Crime
&
disorde
r
Income
affectin
g older
people
738
Income
affectin
g
childre
n
527
Aghanloo 1
695
564
619
672
510
505
814
Aghanloo 2
520
486
499
627
397
195
566
672
460
Ballykelly
408
501
231
330
93
260
101
340
124
610
Coolessan
419
95
399
182
262
23
390
89
530
492
167
Dungiven
282
160
225
637
280
Enagh 1
Enagh 2
664
109
745
120
534
173
596
42
534
109
412
264
689
228
72
421
785
412
723
136
679
103
101
555
74
325
161
Feeny
250
264
317
828
Forest
Glack
545
359
553
399
453
336
253
768
384
97
736
645
377
249
194
79
603
497
821
847
581
483
220
289
213
188
380
719
249
433
198
170
Greysteel 1
222
215
Greysteel 2
Greystone
568
78
680
73
835
90
360
172
665
234
535
55
440
389
487
329
560
44
880
104
214
202
241
48
Magilligan
341
330
656
541
Rathbrady
226
626
575
402
713
631
577
731
518
644
Roeside
327
320
212
252
521
544
343
428
The
Highlands
205
286
207
270
210
706
70
323
142
371
787
295
242
Upper
Glenshane
364
316
464
560
304
105
196
855
285
153
288
211
At the other end of the scale, there is only one ward (Roeside) among the 166 least
deprived in Northern Ireland. In terms of population, 5% of the borough’s population lives in
this ward, which falls within the 166 least deprived wards. With 78% of the total borough
population living in the middle ranking wards which gives the borough a context when
placed within the Northern Ireland Multiple Deprivation Measure. When all the wards are
taken together and compared with other Local Government Districts, Limavady is ranked
8th out of 26 – on average, Limavady is the 8th most deprived Local Government District in
Northern Ireland.
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The child poverty measure shows the percentage of children in each ward who live in
households that claim means tested benefits. The most deprived wards are those containing
more than 50% of children living in households which are in receipt of means tested
benefits these are located in Coolessan, Binevenagh and Feeny. Coolessan supports 76% of
children living in households claiming means tested benefits. When examining the claimant
count rate, which shows the number of people claiming unemployment related benefits as a
proportion of the number of working age residents, the three wards with the highest
number of Unemployment Benefit claimants are Greysteel, Coolessan and Dungiven.
Social enterprise seeks to energise the local community to become more self reliant and to
establish means to develop and deliver products or services that can promote inward investment,
increased economic activity, enhanced skills and educational attainment as well as community
safety and social inclusion benefits, all of which if developed correctly can have a positive
bearing on the perceptions of deprivation in afflicted areas.
1.2.4
Agency and Partnership Strategies; Introduction
It is important to recognise that central to a healthy and progressive community lie the
initiatives undertaken by statutory agencies and voluntary partnerships to lay down action plans
to manage strategically the issues effecting their specific remit of responsibility. On their own
the role of such agencies in tackling issues are random and unattached but together they enable
a degree of stability within the community to manage issues of community tension, crime, poor
income, substandard housing, safer communities, better health awareness and educational
opportunities.
With the introduction of RPA it is hoped that a statutory role will be enacted for agencies to
participate as partners in a strategic community planning initiative in each of the 11 council
areas. This at present provides the key to stabilising communities and helping invigorate capacity
and confidence which is often lacking.
This consultation process and the research that has underpinned it has certainly highlighted
the dearth of these facets of community life in certain sections of the Limavady Borough,
particularly as this report focuses on social economy enterprise. There is no doubt that
much success attributable to excellent performance in a business field is a result of the
skills, passion and drive of individuals. The same can be said of community development,
community enhancement and ultimately community enterprise. What is evidently lacking in
this area is the necessary skills for groups to function independently and without continual
assistance from public sector and statutory agencies.
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This is in no way a criticism of the community infrastructure of Limavady, moreover an
observation. For many, Limavady Council could be doing so much more with respect to
Community development initiatives. This report is a positive step as it seeks to address the
inadequacies by highlighting the necessary tools for success but also to remove the need for
ongoing assistance from Council. Council in their defence have acted in line with
Community Animation processes and the principle of Community Development.
What appears to have happened is that a vast proportion of the Community and Voluntary
sector in the area have been prepared to ‘satisfice’ based on the level they have reached
and dependent upon the level of ongoing assistance received from Council or other
statutory strategic agencies.
This process seeks to assert the position of Limavady Community Forum as a conduit for the
delivery of positive Community development and community enterprise as part of Stage II
Community Business Development manager.
The role of the manager, albeit successful is based on the fact that a dedicated resource
was available to prepare the conditions for such advances. However as with revenue-funded
posts in the World of ‘Development’ the end goal ultimately is to be able to remove the
resource after the allotted timeframe having developed capacity to sustain independently.
A huge opportunity exists for the Community Forum to formalise as a purposeful,
strategically focused body that can enhance the level of ‘Community’ in Limavady.
1.2.5
Limavady Borough Council’s Community Development Unit
In their Community Support Plan the Community Development unit acknowledged the
“Beyond the Centre” document, published in 2000. This publication defines community
support as “the processes and the activities through which local authorities stimulate and
enable groups of people to express their needs, support them through collective action and
assist them with projects and schemes as part of the overall objective of encouraging
active citizenship”. Limavady borough council have attempted to develop a Community
Support Plan which is community focussed, comprehensive, and demonstrates active
community involvement.
The mission statement of the Community Development unit is to “Serve the community of
Limavady Borough in a way that meets its needs for service provision, economic prosperity and
sustainable development.”
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The plan includes practical actions and targets that commit the local authority to implement the
activities that will further enhance the support work it undertakes for and with the community /
voluntary sector in the Borough. It is anxious to review and improve where appropriate its
assessment of need, targeting of resources, use of community facilities, and support for local
community / voluntary groups.
At the Support Plan’s core lay aims that would enable the development unit in Limavady Borough
Council to shape policy development; build communities; promote active citizenship; tackle
disadvantage.
The council’s Community Development Unit set its primary aim “to develop capacity and
leadership within the context of integrated planning processes for the delivery of services to
people most in need” The development of Limavady Community Forum should be the primary
voice for the community / voluntary sector in the Borough. The development of youth interests
and representation, the development of leadership within the community / voluntary sector
were also acknowledged as key issues in the community support plan.
The Limavady Borough Council Community (Good) Relations Audit and Strategy is implemented
through the Good Relations Officer, a post that is fully funded until 2008 through Limavady LSP
and Peace II Extension funding. The Councils’ Good Relations Vision Statement is for “an open
and welcoming community where all people feel equally valued, and diversity is celebrated”.
The Good Relations principal objectives for the Council are to:

Create structures that will permit a greater degree of meaningful cross community
contact;

Implement effective ways of addressing community, social and ethnic conflict issues;

Increase understanding and co-operation between different parts of the Borough’s
community;

Promote respect for diversity in own and shared cultural traditions respecting equality
for all;

Enable and proactively encourage capacity building in all groups in line with Section 75
Northern Ireland Order taking in to account disabled, ethnic and social minorities, sexual
preferences and the promotion of good relations.
1.2.6
Northern Ireland Housing Executive
The current stock of public sector housing is illustrated by the Housing Executive stock total for
the district of 1,634. This is spread across some 34 Northern Ireland Housing Executive estates
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and includes rural stock. The largest estates are in Hospital Lane, the Glens and Edenmore Road,
all of which are located in Limavady town.
Housing Associations also provide accommodation in the borough, their stock totals 347
properties. Some 10,000 households make up the Limavady Borough. 62.3% of homes are owneroccupied and 24.8% of homes are rented from the Housing Executive. Limavady is one of six
Council areas with mixed identity housing estates.
The majority of void stock is located in Limavady town and by Northern Ireland standards is
generally low. There is no void stock in the rural areas. The executive’s figures indicate that,
within the borough, demand is highest in Dungiven and lowest in the rural areas.
Several initiatives are being undertaken by the Housing Executive in the borough to improve
housing and assist communities. The NIHE in Limavady are planning significant investment in the
Roe Valley Area at Risk. These include a major Multi-Element Improvement scheme which will
realise a phased approach to bring dwellings up to a design standard suitable for a future 30
years. The MEI Scheme proposed by the NIHE will cover 64 properties in Phase One in 2008 in
Sperrin Road. This will be followed by further phases due in 2009 in Rathbeg and Mullett Place,
and 2010 in Eventide.
While district staff are working with the local community in the Binevenagh ward (ranked 24th in
the Noble Multiple Deprivation Index and one of the 100 most deprived wards in Northern
Ireland) to provide a level of regeneration within the estate and an improvement scheme is being
prepared to address issues identified.
An aside to the core of this report, however one which is worthy of note when considering the
future of social economy in Limavady is to prompt some thoughts on the potential of Community
associations taking the lead of Aghanloo Community Association who have obtained a derelict
flat and presently rent for ongoing income to sustain the work in the community. This excess
stock presents an opportunity for this to be extended further, or further down the line it may be
possible that a purposeful Community Consortium, entitled Limavady Community Forum may
acquire several geographically spread households and utilise this as a means to develop
substantial income sources for longer term sustainability.
1.2.7
Limavady Local Strategy Partnership
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The LSP’s were established to administer the EU Special Peace and Reconciliation Programme for
Northern Ireland.
They have helped fund many projects under the Peace I and Peace II
programmes, and now, coming to an end under the Peace II Extension Programme. The Peace II
Extension programme has an enhanced focus on reconciliation outcomes. The content of this
report has been at the bequest of the Limavady Local Strategic Partnership, thus emphasising
their support for social economy initiatives and positive community development.
The LSP have been responsible for the funds for the delivery of a number of specific projects
including Limavady Community Forum and their Community Business Manager - to work with all
voluntary and community groups in the Borough. Its aim is to build the capacity of 26 groups,
establish five new community businesses, implement 20 training workshops with 20 participants
per workshop, and the organisation of an information and networking event. The successes of
this project are not a focus of this report but will be considered as it is felt that some of the
outputs delivered, and some of those that were not delivered are testament to the conditions
conducive to Community Enterprise in Limavady.
The Community Business development Officer post was funded through the Limavady Borough
Council’s community support plan and provided the opportunity for council to act as a supporting
agency in progressing business opportunities in the community / voluntary sector.
The community Business Development Officer undertook a number of tasks to enhance the sector
and skill business practice into the sector groups. Some time was spent contacting both fund
providers and groups liaising by correspondence and personal visits. General administrative tasks
where undertaken and a training needs analysis was prepared for a focus group session.
The CBDO also arranged workshop sessions and presentations on social economy and
endeavoured to enlist the interest of groups in this opportunity. One such undertaking was the
production of a Community Sustainability Pack in August 2007. The CBDO also presented and
supported the process of seeding grants for business development in conjunction with the
Council’s economic development unit and this is where the 5 groups took direct funding to
encourage and support their progress
The LSP also funded Hands that Talk, to develop training, educational and social opportunities
for deaf and hearing people throughout Northern Ireland. The Dungiven Dry Arch Centre received
funding for a project Youth Together. This was designed to enable them to develop training,
volunteering, arts and craft and business skills of young people.
Unfortunately, Local Strategy Partnerships are presently being wound up across Northern Ireland
as it is quite apparent that an ally of the social economy concept prevailed. Some further brief
examples include;
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Roe Valley Enterprises - Better Business, Better Communities – was funded to help maximise
the growth and employment potential of the social economy in the Borough.
LATCH was funded to facilitate and organise a two-day music festival, Rock Harmony including
facilitation of various minority communities and youth participation.
Benedy Community Association received funding for the employment of three workers (two
part-time) within their community centre for the project Rural Matters.
Perhaps one of the most exciting social enterprise initiatives which received funding was the
Limavady Community Development Initiative, based in the Roe Valley Hospital site in close
proximity to both Roe Valley Area at Risk and Bovally, which it purchased for approximately £2
million. LCDI received £200,000 support from Limavady Borough Council toward the purchase of
the site.
It operates in Limavady providing a range of advice and development services.
Limavady Community Development Initiative is a cross-community voluntary organisation which
was launched in 1987.
A community audit of the two disadvantaged wards of Coolessan and Benevenagh, carried out in
1998 confirmed the need for a regeneration initiative in the area, with 80% of respondents
supporting a multi-functional community facility. Limavady has received a much needed boost
following the £3m transformation of Roe Valley Hospital into a new community complex.
Amenities offered by the grade B+ listed former workhouse include day care for older people and
people with disabilities, a playgroup, after school club, an employment and benefits advice
centre and debt counselling service. The site also includes 3,800 square metres of office space
and four new apartments for vulnerable people.
The Roe Valley Community Complex has
already surpassed all expectations, stimulating the local economy and creating jobs in a
disadvantaged area. This significant historic building has been refurbished with consideration to
its previous prestigious image in a sensitive way. It also now employs 134 people and provides the
Limavady Community Development Initiative (LCDI) with an annual income of £200k.
It is hoped that perhaps through initiatives like this, sustainability can be developed to enhance
the social economy element of community business potential with the driving force coming from
the Limavady Community Forum as a lead agency. The excellent funding made available to the
sector through the LSP and Peace II extension will soon cease and this will put even further
impetus on the community / voluntary sector to source alternative methods of sustaining its
groups and activities.
From the examples cited above it is apparent that the will exists for positive interventions to be
developed and deployed, albeit based on the presence of large scale public sector finance, in
these instances from Council and EU Special Programmes Body. What must occur is that this
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‘will’ is embraced and nurtured through the development of the necessary skills to promote self
reliance and sustainability.
1.3
Process deployed by Consultants team
The primary research for the study involved a questionnaire and personal interviews with
representatives from the organisations identified in the original study brief and from research
undertaken to ascertain as broad a list of organisations within the community voluntary sector as
possible. The aim was to gather wide ranging quantitative information (with specific focus) about
the perceptions and needs of the community and voluntary sector in the Limavady Borough to
enable the report to address the issue of training needs, support and sustainability amid the
sector’s current climate of change.
Copius Consulting and FPM as a team undertook research to provide a baseline of organisations’
perceptions of need and capacity against a background of their sustainability.
The project approach and methodology that was used had three key aspects:
1. The development and deployment of a Community Audit, encompassing a Community
based self assessment tool with respect to perception of position in terms of the Social
Economy
2. Significant community consultation with sample community groups and those who have
taken steps into the social economy, predominantly through the Community Business
Development Manger at Stage I. An assessment of the Social Economy in Limavady
3. An identification of opportunities for developing social economy sector in Limavady
Borough, redefining roles of the Limavady Community Forum and the members thereof
as well as determining means for peer education through best practice, education and
training needs scope
To further understand the means deployed it is important to take some time in this report to
outline steps undertaken to get us to this point.
1.3.1
Community Audit;
Based on the requested information as detailed in the Terms of Reference as well as through the
project inception meeting in Glenshane House, Dungiven the following rationale was applied to
production of a community audit.
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
The audit was sub divided to 4 discrete sections with a specific focus for each. This
allows for ease of grouping and analysis as well as focused and concentrated responses

The 4 sub sections utilised were as follows; About your organisation / What your
organisation does / Local perceptions of LCF / Training needs analyses

To promote responses freepost envelopes were provided, follow up phone calls made
and an incentive for returning was offered.
The key focus of the questions was to ascertain perceptions of place within a Social Economy /
Community and Voluntary sector and as such referred to location and tenure of same, the level
of finance utilised per annum and its sources, perceived weaknesses and opportunities for growth
in the sector and any specific skills required to reach this particular stage.
A total of 46 questionnaires were forwarded to the sector. Some 16 responses came from the
sector while 46 questionnaires had been posted, the equivalent of some 35%. This was a
relatively high response rate and an acknowledgement of the positive ethos within the sector
towards information accessing on their respective organisations
The questionnaire used a tick box format. In several questions, respondents were asked to
choose from lists of activities and responsibility tasks and decide which most and least accurately
described their organisations needs and perceptions. The questions focussed on awareness,
understanding and perceptions of their organisational skills, experience and need. Participants
were told that we were looking for the views of the organisation to which they belonged.
In several questions, respondents were given the opportunity to add any other views in an open
question at the end of the survey. A full version of the questionnaire is attached at the end of
this report.
In analysing the survey returns, we looked at the data from all respondents. We then subdivided
the data into responses from the groups which made up the community and voluntary sector in
the Limavady Borough. The groups who responded produced a varied picture of the overall
identified need and there were only minor differences between the responses from the sector’s
areas of activity. The consultants, therefore, did use these sets of results as a main focus and
we do make reference to them on the occasions where there are significant differences.
A scoring mechanism with a ranking and criteria model ranging from 1-6 was employed. The
information deduced from these findings would identify the key areas of existing skills and the
limit to the organisation’s capacity and experience or any barrier which might restrict or inhibit
the groups’ ability to progress towards a more sustainable future with less dependence upon
council grant-funding. Capacity training within the community sector is an essential pre-requisite
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to reinvigorate group structure, direction and activity and to enable a more focused strategic
view to be established to enhance the stability of the group and the sector as a whole.
An overview of the analysis of this audit will be made in Section 2, The Social Economy in
Limavady, with a fuller summary report available as appendix upon request.
To accompany this, the Consultant team devised a self assessment tool with progressive levels of
capacity from 1-6. Level 1 being the most dependent and consequently the farthest from Social
Economy Enterprise, with Level 5/6 being those who are self reliant or almost and who have
alternative means for income generation or the capacity to achieve such a situation. Of the
responses the following table articulates where the Community and Voluntary Sector places
themselves in terms of social economy enterprise.
Level of Self reliance (1-6)
Groups
in
this
particular
Rationale for this decision
section
Level 1
5
Capacity of group
Level 2
4
Not sufficient experience
Level 3
4
Experience adequate
Level 4
2
Capacity
and
experience
enabled
Level 5
1
High capacity
Level 6
(This grading system will be attached in the Appendices section to this report)
There are as one would expect a varying degree of social economy activity and capacity within
the sector. These respondents indicate the potential spread of experience and confidence which
exists in the Limavady community / voluntary sector and demonstrates the necessity for focused
training and capacity building to progress the sustainability within the sector
1.3.2
Community Consultation
A series of interviews and meetings were held with groups in the Limavady Borough to ascertain
a more specified qualitative assessment of the state of the sector in the Borough. It was felt that
this was an essential element of the process and one whereby sensitivities had to be discretely
handled to ensure those being interviewed did not feel this was in any way a threat, or an
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attempt to ‘steal the family jewels’ so to speak and make available a successful formula for all
to follow. The success of this process was therefore to instil both confidence to extract as much
helpful and useful information as possible and reassurance that the information being given was
being employed positively to the advantage of their group as much as to the sector as a whole.
The issues that were addressed during this aspect of the strategy include:

Establish the current community sector environment, overlaps in provision, ways of
achieving greater efficiency in sector

Assessed the potential for joint projects and development cohesion in the sector

Pinpointed the aspirations of groups for the development of the sector over the next
year.

Suggested proposals that focus on how the Limavady Community Forum can effectively
provide a central role to independently strengthen the cohesiveness of the sector and
perform under the auspices of its mission statement and the sector’s needs.
1.3.3
Opportunities in the Sector in Limavady
This aspect entailed a qualitative assessment of all data and research collated with respect to
the Third Sector in Limavady Borough, identifying areas of relative strength and also areas of
relative and directly relevant weaknesses for the sector.
Much of this discussion centres around the levels of capacity to effectively govern and function
as a social economy enterprise as well as the key aspect of levels of education and awareness of
the opportunities within the sector itself. Limavady is a unique place, characterised by mixed
rural and urban environments and flourishing and languishing community organisations to
complement it is imperative that agreed courses of action are devised and deployed at the
earliest possible, or the very real threat of several lower level capacity groups ceasing to exist
will come to pass.
There is no doubt that the people have the desire and the work ethic to make the step to
community business however the levels of business acumen and efficient management would be
critical given the fact that many groups function solely as a result of publicly awarded grant
finance, the levels of which differ substantially.
From a wholly impartial and objective viewpoint this process and the report herein has
highlighted that significant opportunity exists for the Social economy to boom in Limavady.
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Primary considerations can be addressed, for instance training and skills development through a
more refined, streamlined and maximally efficient community delivery agent (s). The finer detail
of this observation will become more apparent as the report progresses.
1.4
Conclusions
This section has attempted to highlight the process utilised in order to produce this report as
well as begin to scratch the surface as to the underlying issues and challenges facing the Third
Sector in the Limavady Borough.
There is no doubt that to promote the successful socially economic conditions not all groups can
take a leap of faith overnight. On the contrary this report and the key issues raised therein will
leave no doubt that this will be a complicated, though achievable path.
It appears for too long Community Associations have sprung up across the Country with Limavady
no exception to the rule. With the readily available public sector finance it is easy to see where
some lesser invigorated / energised community groups become dependent upon handouts and as
such are not progressive or lateral thinkers, choosing to ‘satisfice’ instead.
By embracing the need for independence and progressive community development, assuming
responsibility and accountability, there is no doubt that organisations’ such as Limavady
Community Forum can play a much more pro active role in the shaping of the Community and
Voluntary sector future for the area.
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2
Chapter
2.1
The Social Economy; The 3rd Sector
Understanding the Social Economy
In order to fully comprehend the present and potential scenarios with respect to Community
Business in Limavady it is important that clear consideration and understanding is obtained as to
what defines the Social Economy, or the Third Sector.
As with many definitions the terminology surrounding the social economy is complex. To ensure
that the concept is not intimidating and cold to smaller groups’ in the sector it needs to be
debunked and simplified. There was disagreement amongst those the consultants spoke to about
the meaning of the term ‘social economy’. One respondent stated that the social economy was
the ‘economic dimension of the voluntary sector’ – while another felt that the there was
confusion between the terms social economy and social enterprise.
It has become increasingly clear to Limavady Community Forum and elements within the
community / voluntary sector as a whole that they will need to begin generating additional
income to support their community activity in their locality of Limavady and the North West. As
public funding continues to be squeezed the community / voluntary sector are being encouraged
to develop social enterprise initiatives within a social economy context.
As such, both respondents are correct in their assessment of ‘what is the social economy’
however this is rendered irrelevant by the fact that in an increasingly frugal World the ability to
generate revenue and income for long term sustainability is critical to existence and survival as a
community based project / organisation.
Below are 5 example responses which could best describe social economy organisations.
Definition 1: ‘A social economy organisation is a non profit distributing business with social
objectives’
Definition 2: ‘Social economy organisations are non profit distributing organisations with social
objectives. They are managed by voluntary management committees and independent from
Government’
Definition 3: ‘Social economy organisations are non profit distributing businesses which are
managed by members of the communities that they seek to benefit’
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Definition 4: ‘A social economy organisation is a not-for-profit business with social objectives’
Definition 5: ‘Social economy organisations are the economic dimension of the voluntary sector’
So what is the social economy and who does it include? The social economy embraces a
wide range of community, voluntary and not-for-profit activities. It spans economic activity
in the community, voluntary and social enterprise sectors. The economic activity, as with
any other economic sector, includes: employment; financial transactions; the occupation of
property; pensions; trading; etc.
So it is clear that the social enterprise sector includes organisations which "are businesses with
primarily social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the
business or in the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for
shareholders and owners". Examples include co-operatives, development trusts and credit
unions, community hubs with rental space and other community activities.
2.2
Understanding of the Social Economy in Limavady Borough
In order to adequately paint a picture of the Social Economy infrastructure in Limavady it is
essential that the parameters of the term are defined. There is no doubt given the vast numbers
of community based projects / groups and associations that exist in the area, many will have an
understanding of the concept whilst others perhaps lesser so. This is a clear vindication of the
gaps in community capacity and education as well as questioning the core community
development objectives of these same groups. This is not a fault of groups or individuals,
moreover it is a case of collective responsibility that must be assumed in the first instance in
order to appreciate the potential for Social Economy Enterprise in the Limavady area.
The Copius Consulting / FPM strategic alliance are under no illusions that this project has come
about as a result of some very positive interventions and infrastructural initiatives undertaken by
the Community Business Development Manager. Funded through the Peace II programme, some
of the key milestones and outputs can be viewed below;

delivery of a range of community based training in a variety of business skills and issues
such as: committee training, sustainability training, finance, labour relations

delivery of five community business grants - £12,500

development of a community directory for the area, listing all services offered by groups

a community MOT check for groups in association with Neighbourhood Renewal, NITAP,
and Limavady Borough Council
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
Site visits to Carnhill resource Centre and Omagh Community Centre to look at some
examples of best practice
The project produced a research paper on the sustainability of the sector and the impact of the
project in August 2007. The report indicated the need for groups to work on the sustainability of
their organisations and to embrace the social economy as a tool to allow them to income
generate and sustain their activities not merely exist on a grant hand out basis. Overall the
perceptions and opportunities available for sustainability and income generation vary in degree.
From the research material it was obvious that a number of organisations had embraced the
concept and in varying degrees developed some very successful social enterprises. Some of these
have been case studied below to example the experiences encountered on the pathway to
sustainability. However it must be recorded that the capacity within the sector to move swiftly
into the same pathway is not straight forward. Demonstrating the capacity to expand to the
next stage will be difficult for a large number of groups who wish to consider increasing their
income and being less reliant upon council or other public sector bodies for financial aid.
However, there remains a feeling of anxiety and concern among the majority of smaller groups
that the commitment required and the level of support for such an endeavour out weigh the
chances of success. This alludes to the importance of effective training and capacity building
required within the sector and the provision for a strategic approach to tackle the insecurities
which are holding back expansion in to an ethos of social enterprise.
2.3
Examples of Social Economy Enterprise in Limavady Borough
Five local groups have in varying degrees developed along this line and have been listed below.
These are viewed as the principal market movers in the world of social economy enterprise in
the Limavady Borough. The levels of capacity within each, differs substantially, mirrored in the
expansion plans and diversification of some against a backdrop of status quo for others.

Limavady Community Development Initiative is based in the Roe Valley
Hospital site in close proximity to both Roe Valley Area at Risk and Bovally,
which it purchased for approximately £2 million.
LCDI received £200,000
support from Limavady Borough Council toward the purchase of the site. It
operates in Limavady providing a range of advice and development services.
Limavady Community Development Initiative is a cross-community voluntary
organisation which was launched in 1987.
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Amenities offered by the grade B+ listed former workhouse include day care for
older people and people with disabilities, a playgroup, after school club, an
employment and benefits advice centre and debt counselling service. The site
also includes 3,800 square metres of office space and four new apartments for
vulnerable people. The Roe Valley Community Complex has already surpassed
all expectations, stimulating the local economy and creating jobs in a
disadvantaged area. This fine historic building has been refurbished with
appropriate care and sensitivity. It also now employs 134 people and provides
the Limavady Community Development Initiative (LCDI) with an annual income
of £200k.

The Green Shed Project is one of LCDI’s success stories. Funding of £100k was
sourced from the New Opportunities Fund for this project to promote recycling
at a local and community level. To further this project, LCDI had requested a
grant of £20,000 from Council. The Borough would benefit greatly through this
grant by increasing education and awareness about home composting; collection
of old furniture for refurbishment and reuse; local collection of glass; job
opportunities and the projected additional recycling within Borough. Limavady
Borough Council made a one off grant of £20,000 available towards the Green
Shed Project.

Drumboughil Community Association received a business grant from the
Development Unit at the council and acquired a second hand port-a-cabin which
is located at the rear of a farm on the 33 Maghermore Road, Dungiven. The
cabin has given them an opportunity to provide a community hub to those
groups who regularly use the facility.
The Association is focused on craft production and run a number of income
generating events on a weekly basis and supported by a running cost grant from
council. A new hall /community centre is being built at present and will open in
February. Currently Drumboughil have one administrator and 2 part-time staff
with a number of volunteers. As a hub facility Drumboughil offer a number of
classes in quilt making, arts & crafts and healthy activities for older people.
They generate income very modestly from class dues and sell coffee/cakes and
quilt/sewing products from the cabin on Saturday morning.
Other groups use the facility as a meeting place and as the centre is located in a
rural locality two farmers groups DAB and Sperrins both meet throughout the
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year. The Drumboughil hub covers the town lands of Carnbane, Magheramore,
Termeil, Teevan and is close to Benedy, Burnfoot, Claudy and Feeney. The
group have held a number of successful events to raise funds. With Crafts and
art events centring every 4 years on promoting their activities and offering a
wider incentive to participate to the surrounding communities. One such event
partnered Feeney Arts and generated over £1000 commission in sales.
Drumboughil is a good example of a rural community multi service hub with real
potential to expand into the social economy. The provision of a new community
hall will enable greater potential for growth and expansion and the
Administrator who has good organising skills and a strategic view on the long
term objectives for the Association highlighted the opportunity to expand both
its existing services and build additional facilities to maximise both usage of the
new facility and a wider catchment of participants with health and crafts
remaining the key focus. Their funds are being raised to set against the building
fund currently at £16k.

Aghanloo Community Association is a potential social economy enterprise.
They generate low income and are grant dependent upon Limavady Borough
Council’s Development Unit. Their income is broken down into user fees from
premises amounting to £25/night or £50/full day. Examples of groups that use it
are the Woman’s Institute. They book yearly and while this obviously depends
on their finances it provides a vital income against cost. Other users include
farmer groups (6-7 nights per year), church groups for suppers and other minor
events and functions and fitness classes and aerobic classes.
Aghanloo received a business grant from the Community Forum to undertake
renovation work to a ground floor flat. The grant was for £2,500 but the
refurbishment cost £7,000 so the caretaker who now lives there is paying a
rental income. After successfully applying for an Awards for All grant for £4,000
the Association spent the grant on essential equipment needed for the
premises.
Additional fundraising activities are held every year which generate roughly
£600-£700 per year. An example of the activities held would be table quizzes,
barbeques and Scottish dancing.
Space for businesses is also rented out to generate a small income. These
businesses use the space for such things as training events for staff. Bus trips
which occur throughout the
year are scheduled to raise limited funds and
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indicate the variety of income generating which helps reduce costs and go a
small way to sustaining the Association.

The Orchard Playgroup at Ballykelly is a voluntary pre-school play group
which has attendance from over 39 children, split into morning sessions of
24 children and afternoon sessions of approximately 15 children. The
Orchard operates a system of learning and skills which was established over
40 years ago. High/Scope is an educational approach which originated in
the US. It follows the principle that children are active learners who learn
best from activities which they plan and carry out themselves and then
reflect upon.
Orchard is a cross-community operation and is very active. They applied for
the business grant from the Community Forum to enable them to purchase
a bouncy castle for birthday parties and other children’s events. They also
hire out their facilities which were acquired from Peace and Children
funding over 6 years ago. Prior to the purpose built facility being developed
the group operated from a port-a-cabin.

North West Lifelong Learning Association is run by Mrs. Elizabeth McNerlin
based in Limavady is an organisation which aims to promote and encourage ICT
training for people of all ages in the area. The Lottery grant of £9,480 is to be
used to deliver classes to educate young people, parents, grandparents and
children in the use of on-line chat rooms. The North West Lifelong Learning
Association is an independent charity that provides computer training and
educational advice to the local community. Many of our training courses are
heavily subsidised due to a variety of charitable grants.
The NWLLA aims to provide a cross community facility which is open to all
sections of the community. Actively seeking to ensure that the activities
are provided free of charge where possible. They are not funded by core
Government funding. NWLLA is a partner in the Limavady New Deal
Consortia.
Through the business grant scheme NWLLA received funding to purchase
computers and further enhance their service to the community. Women
especially those seeking employment and Mothers wishing to return to
employment are high on the NWLLA target participants along with
unemployed and un-earning, disabled persons, carers and retired persons
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2.4
Experiences in establishing, managing and sustaining Social Enterprise in Limavady
There are a number of difficulties which have had to be encountered by the social enterprises in
Limavady in establishing their social economy enterprises and an understanding of these is
important when assessing their achievement, or using their experiences as a template for the
enhancement of the sector in Limavady Borough.
A number of key issues where recognised from the research and have been highlighted in this
section.
Issue 1; One major hurdle which groups encountered was the lack of support once they had
established their enterprise. It takes most businesses anything up to three years to become profit
making. With social enterprises the importance of being able to sustain the operation during this
period can be the difference between success or failure. If there is to be a positive outcome it
can hinge on the levels and mechanisms of support which are available to the group during this
important period. In many cases this can as simple as the funding agency being willing to support
the social enterprise and see it through.
This is an extremely important point and for groups it as critical as picking the right product or
service niche, knowing the local market and where the opportunity to step into the gap exists. It
does not matter whether the enterprise is a child care group or a cottage industry.
Within the confines of the Social Economy an example may be portrayed as; a local group have
developed a craft materials business and are selling their products into the open but local arts
and crafts market. The supply of raw materials and the price they are secured at is vitally
important to ensure that the group are able to sell at a marginal profit. The quantities desired or
ordered will largely dictate the quantities they will produce, and this can have a direct bearing
on the cost of the material and its availability.
Support for such an enterprise may not necessarily take the form of financial injection; moreover
this may have been as a result of the development of appropriate business acumen,
enhancement of belief and self confidence in the product and the market it aims to penetrate.
Successful transactions require fiscal management and this again may be a form of support that
may be availed of directly through support groups and for a, or indirectly through access to
suitable training modules such as those provided by Invest NI Start up business and organisations
such as the social economy network.
Issue 2; A second issue with this type of business will undoubtedly be the labour force of
experienced “workers” and their availability. This important issue can influence the expansion of
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the product range and the quantities which in turn identifies new markets to explore outside the
natural catchment.
Issue 3; One other issue which has potential to impact on the production is the requirement for
specialist equipment whose acquisition, age, cost and maintenance all need to be considered.
The opportunity to obtain such equipment can increase production of the product and range and
is the difference from turning the cottage business into an industry. There are numerous
examples across Northern Ireland from where small acorns have mighty oaks grown; some of
these examples will be explained later in this chapter.
Issue 4; Diversification of products and activities can be a major drain on the volunteer and staff
base of any social economy enterprise and needs to be strategically managed. The difficulty for
many smaller groups is that the need to maximise the usage of their community facility can put a
strain on their volunteers and staff and stretch available resources.
There are many groups who offer a range of services in Limavady Borough through their
community hall or centre and who are always conscious of getting the balance between offering
the community the product / service while identifying the income generated by attendance fees
or dues when these are charged. This is where financial management and positive governance is
essential.
Issue 5; Word of mouth has always been an accepted means of communicating what is good or
bad in Northern Ireland but from the research groups need to be getting smarter about how they
market their enterprise and how to judge the effectiveness.
2.5
Social Economy in Northern Ireland – some relevant examples to Limavady
There are a plethora of Social Economy Enterprises in Northern Ireland and they play an
important role not merely in their respective areas but also in our economy in terms of
income/employment opportunities and delivery of public and other community-based
services. Some examples of businesses/organisations in this sector include; Credit Unions
(there are 180 Credit Unions in NI providing communities with access to affordable credit
and finance advice), Housing Associations (over 50 Housing Associations providing affordable
housing for rent or low-cost ownership) and Local Enterprise Agencies (there are 34 local
enterprise agencies across NI who aim to stimulate enterprise and business growth through
the provision of advice and support).
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The diversity of the sector and the absence of a universally accepted definition mean there
is limited statistical information available on the size or scale of the social economy sector.
However, DTIs Small Business Service published a “Survey of Social Enterprises across the
UK” in July 2005 (first ever survey of social enterprises in the UK).
For a general overview the survey found that social enterprises exist and operate in many
sectors and in all regions of the UK. Furthermore DTI estimated that in the UK there are
around 15,000 social enterprises and together they are employing over 775,000 people
including around 300,000 volunteers.
They generate just under £18 billion in annual
turnover with the majority of this turnover being accounted for through trading activity
(82%) and not grants and donations as normally perceived. Around 600 of them were in
Northern Ireland, however it was highlighted that estimates at regional level were less
accurate and robust than at UK level. DETI are currently undertaking the first Biennial
Survey of the social economy sector in NI and it is hoped that the results of this (available
from early 2007) will give us a better indication of the size and scale of this sector.
Sometimes it is easy to get a better reflection of the social economy sector by talking to
those organisations that have developed successful social enterprises. Project promoters
can get a feel for the amount of work required, the commitment and dedication of staff
and the pros/cons/issues that are hand in hand with developing a social business.
The consultants have listed a number of successful organisations across Northern Ireland
which have developed best practice through the social economy.
2.5.1
SportOpps.Com
SportOpps.Com has been developed and managed by the North Belfast Sports Forum.
The company specialise in the recruitment of and placing of sport and physical activity
coaches to community organisations and schools in the Belfast area.
North Belfast Sports Forum worked closely with a number of funding agencies and social
economy support networks to develop a business plan, which was used to support a
number of funding applications for business start up costs.
The business went live from April 2006. Previous to April 2006 the Business Development
Officer was building the infrastructure, developing the locally trained coaches, creating
the brand and business policy and procedures. The business now employs on a part time
and casual basis over 60 coaches and in its first 6 months of trading the company has
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generated net profits in excess of £25,000. For a small company with 1 part time
business manager, the achievements to date are significant.
2.5.2
Roast Coffee (Belfast)
The ‘Higher force’ group on the Shankill Road have an entrepreneurial streak that would
match any in the private/commercial sector. Given their Christian ethos and ongoing
work with young men and women from the Shankill area, Tommy Latimer and Pastor
Jack McKee have been behind many of Belfast’s biggest social enterprises.
One of their most significant social enterprises was the development of the ‘Roast
Coffee’ Outlets. The organisation, through hard work and commitment of project staff,
set up 3 coffee shops in Royal Avenue, Elmwood Street and the Lisburn Road. The
organisation had to use some reserves to develop the sites, but after 5 years of
managing the sites, they have just agreed to sell all 3 off to a private company for a
substantial financial remuneration. The organisation has plans for the liquid funds by
investing it in land and capital development projects in the Shankill area.
The organisation also manages and runs other successful social enterprises. The group
manage the ‘Hobby Horse’ Day Care facility and also operate a car park on Belfast’s
Townsend Street. The group also set up a community taxi service, which suffered at the
hands of paramilitary feud.
The culmination of the years of harvesting small business ideas has been the purchase of
a 22,000 sq ft warehouse building on Belfast’s infamous Northumberland Street
Interface, straddling the Shankill and Falls roads, which at the total project cost of £5m
will host several multi faceted social / community enterprises.
2.5.3
Peninsula Community Transport Limited (PACT) (Ards)
Peninsula Community Transport Ltd was formed in 2000 as a result of research
completed in the Upper Ards Peninsula on health needs. The research highlighted that
the main obstacle to services was lack of suitable transport. Through the Department for
Regional Development Rural Transport Fund, PACT now operates four community
minibuses that provide affordable, accessible transport for community groups,
associations and individuals living on the rural Ards Peninsula. PACT now employs seven
local people and continues to increase its membership numbers and deliver a variety of
services to the community.
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The minibuses can be hired with a driver or on self-drive basis. Three of the four buses
are fully accessible and have a lift suitable for people with limited mobility and
wheelchair users. Transport is provided for people and community organisations on a not
for profit basis. Core operational costs are subsidised through the Rural Transport Fund
(RTF) meaning transport is more affordable for users. Individuals living on the rural Ards
Peninsula that cannot access conventional modes of transport now have a local option
available to them.
PACT aims to:

Provide affordable, accessible transport for community groups and
individuals on the rural Ards Peninsula

Provide the right transport for everyone within our rural area

Work with local transport companies to meet the customer’s needs

Promote integration, growth of access to services and develop community
involvement for groups and individuals that are rurally isolated.
With over 300 registered individual members and some 70 community groups and
association members PACT provides Minibus Driver Awareness Training (MiDAS) for
groups so that they can take more ownership and self drive buses. Given the rural nature
of much of Limavady Borough there is certainly scope for a similar scheme to be
investigated as a viable community enterprise.
2.5.4
Creggan Enterprises Limited (CEL) (Derry City)
Creggan has been identified and recognised as an area of multiple deprivation and
disadvantage by both the Townsend Index of Material Deprivation produced by the
Centre for Urban Policy Studies (1994) and by the Noble Report – Measures of
Deprivation in Northern Ireland (2001).
The two studies found that Creggan’s three main wards (St Peter’s, Creggan Central and
Creggan South) suffer most when measured for the extent of deprivation. Entitlement to
free school meals serves also as a key indicator of poverty with both unemployed and
low-waged families eligible. The figures for Creggan demonstrate entitlement up to 87%.
Within the Derry context, these Wards ranked 2nd, 3rd and 4th as areas with the worst
levels of multiple deprivation out of the city’s 30 wards. Long-term male unemployment
figures for the area are currently between 40% and 47%.
Established in 1991 this social economy initiative was incorporated as a company limited
by guarantee. It has a successful turnover of £300,000 per annum and operates with 7
voluntary Directors and employs 24 staff.
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Creggan Enterprises Limited, in partnership with the International Fund for Ireland (IFI)
and the Department of the Environment (DoE) has developed the £3.2m Ráth Mór
Centre, £340,000 Community Service Units and an £800,000 Enterprise Park providing
employment for the Social Economy Enterprise itself while also creating opportunities
for employment in retail, manufacturing, IT and community services for the area. CEL
also helped secure a further £3m to develop a new sheltered housing scheme in
partnership with North and West Housing, another successful local Social Economy
Enterprise.
Following research carried out in the area by the Social Economy Agency (SEA), the
Derry Unemployed Workers’ Group and Naiscoil na Rinne in 1990, local people came
together and formed Creggan Community Initiative. They produced a development plan
for the area, which was submitted, to IFI and DoE under the Creggan Co-operative
Society. However, this legal structure was not acceptable at the time to the funding
agencies. A Social Economy structure (CEL) was then established with the assistance of
SEA to bring forward the original plans and it secured funding in 1994 to build the Ráth
Mór Centre.
CEL also secured funding for the development of Creggan Neighbourhood Partnership
(CNP) to facilitate and support local community activity. CEL has also distributed in the
region of £75,000 (surplus profit) to assist community-based initiatives within the area.
The Centre is presently fully occupied and CEL has negotiated a 15 year lease with its
Anchor Tenant (Costcutter). Conference and training facilities for private and
community hire. 8 new units were constructed during 1998 costing £340,000.
CEL now provides a total of 80,000 sq ft of retail, business and community service space.
The Ráth Mór project is a model of best practice with the Social Economy and has been
instrumental in helping shape local strategies for urban renewal and revival within
marginalised and disadvantaged communities.
Whilst this appears to be the Hold Standard of aspiration within the Community Business
sector it is important to recognise that this range of services and units was not delivered
overnight. What this example clearly displays is evidence of a localised Community
animation process, where the local representatives identified and agreed to redress the
social problems in the area through collective responsibility and action. There is no
reason the groups in Limavady, potentially through the strategic leadership of a refined
Community Forum cannot deliver a similar scheme.
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2.5.5
Wishing Well Family Centre (Belfast)
In 1989 a group of local people with the assistance of Bryson House came together
to identify and respond to the social, economic, educational and environmental
needs of residents of all age groups in the Alliance/Ardoyne area. The group, which
operated under the auspices of Bryson House, established the Wishing Well Family
Centre, dedicated to serving the community.
In April 1998 the Wishing Well Family Centre became a fully independent company
with charitable status. The charity has its own Management Board which is
responsible for maintenance and development of services, raising and managing
funds and the overall management of staff.
The Management Board is made up of local residents, user groups, statutory and
voluntary organisations as well as the business sector. The management is firmly in
the hands of the local representatives and a great reliance is placed on the
contribution of local volunteers to assist with the delivery of services.
The Wishing Well Family Centre provides a range of vital services and facilities for
children, parents and senior citizens within the area and beyond. The Centre plays
a major role in improving the quality of life of local people by bringing badly
needed resources and services to the area.
One of the most important services provided by the centre is the facilities for
childcare/children. A nursery was initially established in 1990 by parents in the
area, but it was not until 1998 when the centre became independent from Bryson
House that they secured £1/2 million from the Big Lottery Fund & BRO to develop a
purpose built facility.
The childcare facility includes a baby unit, pre-school
nursery, playgroup and after school club.
At present the facility caters for 87
children on a daily basis and is managed by 15 local people. The Wishing Well
Childcare Facilities are fully self-sustaining and a recent report has shown that the
services provided by them are the cheapest in North Belfast.
2.5.6
Irvinestown Trustee Enterprise Company Ltd (Fermanagh)
In the best rural tradition, every visitor to the ARC Healthy Living and Learning
Centre in Irvinestown, County Fermanagh, drinks their tea or coffee out of the
finest china cups. The philosophy behind that custom is very simple. Everyone is
treated as a special guest. That approach has paid demonstrable dividends since
ARC was opened in 2001. The Sallyswood housing estate where it is based was, until
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recently, notorious as a ‘no-go’ area. Today it is the base for a service hub serving
the entire community.
The first centre of its kind in Northern Ireland, ARC was established under the
auspices of the Irvinestown Community Partnership, ARC Ltd. The buildings were
purchased by Irvinestown Trustee Enterprise Company (ITEC) and refurbished with
the support of the New Opportunities Fund.
ITEC represents the latest generation of one of Northern Ireland’s long established
social enterprises. It was set up in 1994 by Irvinestown Fairs and Market Trustees,
an organisation that has been working to improve community life in the area since
1908. The business skills the trustees continue to bring to the social economy sector
are very much in evidence at ITEC. Accounting, financial control and corporate
governance practices are in line with the best the private sector has to offer. In
addition, consistent, compatible management systems have been put in place
across its operations to provide a professionally stimulating environment for
employees.
The trustees - who include a number of prominent business figures – also channel
their considerable expertise to support ITEC’s mission to “cultivate a climate of
enterprise, to create employment opportunities and to promote the economic
and social development of Irvinestown.” In pursuit of that aim, ITEC touches
thousands of the town’s inhabitants every year. In late 2004, the organisation
opened the Tullynagarn Business Centre in a building once occupied by Daintyfit,
one of the town’s main employers. Since it closed in 2001 with the loss of 120 jobs,
the 11,000 sq ft factory has been divided into six separate units. Tenants include
Powerhouse Clothing, one of only five specialist producers worldwide of clothing for
the sport of rowing. Currently 30 people are employed on the Tullynagarn site and
more jobs are in the pipeline.
In total, ITEC now owns and manages 50,000sq ft of affordable, attractive
workspace in and around Irvinestown. The majority of the properties were once
derelict buildings. All are now fully let and provide a base for a total of 22
businesses. The company’s rental income provides a reliable revenue stream for
social reinvestment. Much of this goes to fund ARC which aims to promote physical
and mental healthcare and to tackle the socio-economic causes of poor health. Its
funders include the National Lottery and the Department of Health, Social Services
and Public Safety.
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Programmes offered by the centre include Cherish Surestart, which caters for the
needs of young children and their families. Among these is childcare provision
which is available through an ITEC tenant - Active Allsorts - a social economy
enterprise providing crèche, nursery and after school childcare facilities. A second
programme - Active8 offers training for the unemployed while I’DARE focuses on
drug awareness and diversionary activity. The needs of dependant drinkers and
their families are addressed by the SOLACE project. The centre also works closely
with the FAST rural transport initiative, a bus service for mothers, children, the
elderly and the disabled.
Staffed by 12 people, the ARC centre is managed by Jenny Irvine who is also chief
executive of ITEC. Regarded as one of Northern Ireland’s leading social
entrepreneurs, Jenny is the 2004 winner of the Marks & Spencer-sponsored Sieff
Award for outstanding community individuals. She attributes the success of ITEC
and ARC to the action-oriented sense of civic responsibility shared by many people
in the Irvinestown area.
The social economy approach really does work given the necessary social
infrastructure coupled with appropriate levels of support from funding bodies. It’s
not a way of delivering services on the cheap. It’s a way of delivering quality
services that have a lasting and measurable impact on the most disadvantaged
areas.
2.5.7
Cresco Trust (Derry)
Cresco Trust was set up in January 2004, inheriting a number of Peace II funded
projects from Waterside Development.
Since then, the organisation has placed a high priority on accelerating the
establishment of new revenue streams to ensure its survival. Options currently
being considered include tendering for public sector contracts. But it is a novel
scheme, set up in partnership with the makers of the world’s leading luxury ice
cream brand that has already secured its immediate future. In August 2004, a newly
established Cresco Trust Trading Company opened an ice cream shop in Derry in
partnership with Ben & Jerry’s of Vermont. The outlet is currently the only
‘PartnerShop’ operated by the Unilever-owned company outside the United States.
PartnerShop is a Ben & Jerry’s programme designed to enable social enterprises to
own and operate their own outlets. The company waives the standard franchise
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fees and provides additional support to help build strong businesses. All profits are
retained by the owners to support their social economy programmes.
Based in leased premises in the Richmond Centre, the new outlet has proved to be
a fantastic success. In its first four months of trading, the shop generated a fivefigure profit which was covenanted to Cresco Trust to fund future activities.
Indeed, the venture has proved so successful that Cresco is planning to open two
further outlets in the coming months – one in Belfast’s Castle Court shopping
centre, the other in The Quays retail and leisure complex in Newry. Each is
expected to require a staff of six. The lucrative revenue-earning potential of Cresco
Trust’s partnership with Ben & Jerry’s tells only half of the story however. The
Trust’s retail venture also provides much-needed Intermediate Labour Market (ILM)
training opportunities in the tourism and hospitality industries for the long-term
unemployed.
Courses cover a number of general areas such as first aid, personal hygiene and
basic numeracy and literacy. There are also industry-specific modules on food
hygiene and health and safety. These, in turn, are supplemented by in-house
company training supplied free of charge by Ben & Jerry’s. Cresco Trust managing
director, Margaret Lee says that while the Derry PartnerShop venture is a perfect
fit for the Trust, it is not a direction that other voluntary and community
organisations would necessarily find attractive.
“PartnerShop represents a massive gift from Ben & Jerry’s and really underlines
the company’s genuine commitment to good corporate citizenship. “In addition to
donating what is effectively a free franchise, the company gave us the shop
equipment, it supplies the ice cream at a significant discount and it undertakes all
marketing activities and company training programmes, free of charge.
The venture represents an extremely valuable income stream for us and we are
treated very generously but you have to work hard for the money. Every month we
have to score at least 75 per cent in a series of tests carried out by a mystery
shopper. These cover areas such as the quality of the ice cream, the
professionalism of the staff and the condition of the premises.
The previous examples of social enterprise across Northern Ireland illustrated in this
chapter can be viewed as networking opportunities for shared learning and information
exchange, but also as inspiration as to what can be achieved within the sector, if the base
skills and expertise, the product and market and the conditions for social enterprise are
appropriate.
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2.6
A Qualitative assessment of the Audit undertaken
In developing this piece of Community research it was imperative that focused qualitative and
quantitative information was obtained for analysis. A postal questionnaire centred on 4 very
specific areas of questioning was deployed amongst the community and voluntary sector in
Limavady. The follow up reminder calls and provision of free post enveloped for return and an
incentive for respondents saw a 39% return rate.
This was a relatively high response rate and an acknowledgement of the positive ethos within the
sector towards information accessing on their respective organisations
The questionnaire used a tick box format. In several questions, respondents were asked to
choose from lists of activities and responsibility tasks and decide which most and least accurately
described their organisations needs and perceptions. The questions focussed on awareness,
understanding and perceptions of their organisational skills, experience and need. Participants
were told that we were looking for the views of the organisation to which they belonged.
In several questions, respondents were given the opportunity to add any other views in an open
question at the end of the survey. A full version of the questionnaire is attached at the end of
this report.
In analysing the survey returns, we looked at the data from all respondents. We then subdivided
the data into responses from the groups which made up the community and voluntary sector in
the Limavady Borough. The groups who responded produced a varied picture of the overall
identified need and there were only minor differences between the responses from the sector’s
areas of activity. The consultants, therefore, did use these sets of results as a main focus and
we do make reference to them on the occasions where there are significant differences.
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2.6.1
Summary Analysis of Community response
The following is a series of summary observations collated as a result of the Community Audit
that has informed this report process. The responses are abbreviated for the purposes of this
report and illustrate the perception and potential levels of social enterprise in Limavady
Borough.
A full version of the actual questions posed can be found in the appendices to this document.
(A brief analysis of the research tool listed below, not explicitly in questionnaire order)
Section 1 About your organisation
Q.1 When was your org established
Earliest group commenced 1975 / most recent 2001
Q. 4 Does your org have paid staff
75% of responses had full or part time staff 25% had no staff

This was important to establish as it is undoubted that in any walk of business
life people are essential. In establishing Community Businesses, committed,
professional people can develop concepts and products as well as prepare the
ground conditions for the group responsible to make the transition to
Community Enterprises.

This is not essentially the difference between entry to the community business
sector and not, properly resourced and targeted community training can deliver
these same conditions. A prevalence of localised experience in this sector will
make the transition peer led and therefore more community friendly.
Q. 5/6 \Do you own your own property and what tenure
rent
39%
leasehold
13%
freehold
44%
not have to pay
4%

Premises are normally a requirement for commencing a community enterprise.
Many Community and Voluntary sector organisations are restricted by physical
environments and the conditions that govern them. Preferable conditions are
long term lease or free hold ownership with development potential.
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Section 2 What your organisation does
Q. How many people are your services available to
87.5% = groups had a catchment for their services in excess of 150+
6.25% = group delivering services to 21 disabled

This is very much a baseline consideration as localised concentration of effort
will only permit attainment to a certain level in Community based enterprise.
These figures represent the initial target market to refine product / service.
Q.4 undertaken strategic training
87.5% = have received strategic training
Q. 6 Does your org require further financial assistance
87.5% responses asked for further assistance to help them progress

In spite of having undertaken some strategic training workshops, all those
groups surveyed feel they need further support to continue to grow. This has
been wholly apparent through this process.
Question 7. funding sources for groups
87.5%
Local Authorities
6.25%
Events
75%
public
56%
Business
19%
membership fees/dues
6.3%
sponsorship

It is clear the highest concentration of finance is secured using local authority
sources. This is limiting as local authorities must operate within strict financial
boundaries. Growth potential is severely inhibited using public sector sources.
Section on LCF
Q. 1. How would u rate LCF 1 excellent – 5 poor
0
6.25
1
6.25%
2
18.75%
3
37.5%
4
18.75%
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5
12.5%
Q. 2 Do u feel the LCF are of assistance to your organisation
0
12.5%
1
6.25%
2
18.75%
3
31.25%
4
25%
5
6.25%

In no way a criticism or witch hunt for the Forum, it was imperative however
that a view was established as to the perceived role of the organisation within
the Community and Voluntary Sector.

There is a feeling that the organisation is in the main serving limited purposes
for the benefit of groups in the area. Operating within an environment of
mediocrity is not conducive to positive community development, and as such
the organisation must be re-defined and assert a position whereby they act for
and on behalf of the Community Voluntary sector in Limavady.
2.6.2
Community Self Assessment in Social Enterprise
A scoring mechanism with a ranking and criteria model ranging from 1-4 was employed. The
information deduced from these findings would identify the key areas of existing skills and the
limit to the organisation’s capacity and experience or any barrier which might restrict or inhibit
the groups’ ability to progress towards a more sustainable future with less dependence upon
council or other agency grant-funding.
The rationale for this scoring tool was as follows;
Level of Self Assessment
Level 1
Rationale for selection

Voluntary management committee in
place managing the organisation

No
paid
staff,
100%
reliant
on
volunteers

75-100% reliant on public funds

Income not exceeding £20,000 per
annum
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
Only producing necessary ‘paper work’
- e.g. minutes of meetings, annual
accounts and internal finance records
Level 2

Voluntary management committee in
place with a number of key advisors

No more than ¾ paid members of staff

75-100% reliant on public funding

Rest
of
income
coming
through
donations & own fund raising

Income in excess of £20,000

Completing
annual
reports
and
publications promoting achievement

No
social
economy
training
or
expertise
Level 3

Renting /leasing own premises

Developing
action plans,
strategic
plans etc

Management Committee with advisors
and sub-committees in place

More than ¾ paid staff (part time and
full time

Still reliant on public investment but
potential to develop social economy
business ventures with further training
and support
Level 4

Renting /leasing own premises

Working on strategic action plans

Fully self sufficient through own
income generation

Social economy business covering all
running, overhead and salary costs

Management Committee and staff
have undergone in depth training and
development in relation to social
economy
development,
management,
financial
committee/company
skills etc

Awareness of strategic context within
which your group works(i.e. awareness
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of local and regional strategy and
policy affecting your work etc.)
From the matrix provided groups took the opportunity to identify with respective levels of self
assessment. Group participants in the questionnaire made their decision based upon a judgement
of their capacity and qualifications under the ranking system which accompanied the
questionnaire.
2.6.3
Focused training for the Community and Voluntary Sector in Limavady
Capacity training within the community sector is an essential pre-requisite to reinvigorate group
structure, direction and activity and to enable a more focused strategic view to be established to
enhance the stability of the group and the sector as a whole. The focus areas of this requisite
training will be considered in the Social Enterprise Action plan, Section 5.
The Limavady Borough has, as with other Borough’s, a range of community / voluntary groups
who, have to varying degrees, engaged in the social economy. As alluded to in the case studies
some have had the opportunity, through entrepreneurship, product range, a market gap and
sheer tenacity and doggedness, to establish very successful businesses and generate income to
self sustain and grow their social enterprise.
Others have shied away either because the interest and motivation is not there or because the
prospect of entering the social economy is alien to them and conjures up all manner of fears and
reluctances: This is a primary action point for the Sector to progress in the Limavady area.
Suggested positive action to address these fears will be considered in later sections of this
report. Some of the questions posed by reluctant social entrepreneurs were;
"What will happen if we start and fail?
“What do we need to do to start up and where do we start?”
“We could never be successful we wouldn’t get the support. Is this not too big a
commitment?”
“Can’t we get enough through our council grant to get by?”
These concerns only indicate that more work needs to be carried out to inform and explain the
social economy and enable groups to tackle the right questions about the opportunities of
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engaging in a social enterprise and developing their core strategic objectives for their group’s
future.
The questionnaires indicated a very real need for improved understanding of the social economy
and by looking at the local aspirations of groups and their expectations the provision of smaller
or micro local sessions provides the key.
To date activity intended to ‘raise the profile’ of the social economy has been wide ranging and
diverse. There has been no central coordination of activity and there has been no monitoring or
evaluation of the work that has been done – although there were very strong informal networks
amongst some of the organisations involved and this allowed information sharing for those who
were ‘in the loop’. However, it left some organisations which could develop social enterprise
‘outside the loop’. This needs to be addressed to enable these groups to be more effective in
come generating and more strategic in their approach to achieving their real objectives, having
focus, kick starting their drive and enthusiasm and enabling them to realise their full potential.
The responses to the questionnaires highlighted a number of interesting issues in relation to
training need and existing skills. They also indicate clearly where the importance is being placed
by the groups themselves and where serious consideration should be given with regard to
establishing a concentrated programme of training needs and capacity building.
In real terms the scoping exercise demonstrated that a serious root and branch approach to
regular training is required and needs to be able to active
Of the 39% who responded to the questionnaires the key training needs where focused upon
financial training, strategic management and social economy and sustainability. These three
training areas indicate a requirement to focus on strategic capacity building and suggest that
these groups are representative of an expectation to skill up on capacity that will enable groups
to develop their own opportunities and become more focused upon self reliance and
sustainability.
This augurs well for the success of a business development programme, especially when the need
for such training is high within the sector’s expectation. It has been recognised that the Forum
staff has previously provided some training programmes and discussed the potential for social
economy, perhaps the previous exercise could best be described as establishing the idea.
Certainly 5 larger sector organisations received business grants and demonstrate a real vigour for
the systemic growth of their activities and ability to income generate. It could be argued that
there now exists a real potential for a concentrated programme to take place to engage groups
within the sector and increase the capacity and understanding of establishing solid tactical
disciplines to steer their future decisions in both a strategic and sustainable way.
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The lower end training needs would appear to be less of an issue on the group’s radar and skills
such as first aid, risk management and child protection are areas of training which appears to be
adequately provided by the council and Forum in previous training programmes.
The difficulty in achieving a successful attendance at training sessions is to provide training
which meets the needs of the groups. It also requires recognition on the part of the
community / voluntary sector and the provider to ensure that an understanding has been
created to maximize the opportunity and facilitate groups in different locations and
activities.
While running training at one end of the borough might appear beneficial the limitations on
transport, availability and time could all militate critically against a successful turn out and
therefore the take up of training being made available.
It would be better to focus on group training needs and work with smaller localised areas
whether urban or rural to ensure a stronger working practice within a given community,
where a two hour training session attended by up to 5 groups in the area would enable
networking to occur and better understanding of the areas issues to be established. It
would also facilitate the potential for groups to work more closely and where there was
common ground established it would facilitate the practical aspects of sharing objectives
and facilities which in itself is not necessarily a negative or retrograde move.
Generally training on a regular basis would be the preferred option, not only does it provide
an initial capacity building in the sector but repeat sessions allow for additional members of
focus to take advantage of the training and the skills within the respective groups are
increased and shared by volunteers and members.
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3
Chapter
3.1
Creating the conditions for successful
social economy
Introduction to varying forms of Social Economy
The Social Economy is often referred to as ‘the third sector’ and can be broken down into
three sub-sectors; the community sector, the voluntary sector and the social enterprise
sector:

The community sector includes those organisations active on a local or community level,
usually small, modestly funded and largely dependent on voluntary, rather than paid,
effort. Examples include neighbourhood watch, small community associations, civic
societies, small support groups, etc.

The voluntary sector including those organisations that are: formal (they have a
constitution); independent of government and self-governing; not-for-profit and operate
with a meaningful degree of volunteer involvement. Examples include housing
associations, large charities, large community associations, national campaign
organisations, etc.

The social enterprises sector includes organisations which "are businesses with primarily
social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the
business or in the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit
for shareholders and owners". Examples include co-operatives, building societies,
development trusts and credit unions.
The following section will consider the necessary conditions required to prepare a social
economic environment. This will consider the considerations that must be paid in assessing risks
and determining the most favourable means to develop a thriving community business. It will
also consider the possible support services that presently exist in the North as well as suggesting
means that the present community infrastructure in Limavady can play a more proactive role in
developing community business, in the first instance this is most likely deliverable through
Limavady Community Forum.
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3.2
Market and Operational Risks to Social Enterprise
The following table provides some insight to the strengths and weaknesses of establishing a new
social economy business. These should be thoroughly understood by any group or organisation
considering embarking on this path.
Support and handholding during this exploration period is vital and groups need to be encouraged
and shadowed during this period to facilitate important learning and decision making. The
different levels of progress among these risks will be crucial in clustering focus groups / best
practice working groups for social enterprise in Limavady in the future.
Those operating Social enterprise at present have certainly had to consider these elements in the
past but the key to sustainability and survival in competitive market places is the ongoing
evaluation of these factors. For example we live in a dynamic and evolving legal environment
and the stipulations this may bring to community business is paramount.
Market Risks






Legislation Risks;
Competition Risks;
Lower Uptake of Business Services;
Public Sector Purchasing Risks;
Community / Voluntary Sector Risks
Right product Risks
Operating Risks





Governance and Management Risk;
Financial Management and Funding
Risk;
Staffing and Resource Risks;
Core Business and Focus Risks
Initial Period Financing Risk
The legal structure, legal form and governing instruments are very important aspects of an
social economy and the consultants recognise that the choice of legal structures is closely
determined by the choice of an organisation’s model. Once a group, having decided to
explore the opportunities of a new social economy enterprise or an existing organisation
having decided to review its organisational model, has made the critical decisions regarding
its ownership, membership, use of profits and governance, it must seek to safeguard these
decisions through its legal structure. The decisions made about the organisational model,
will help to limit the number of suitable legal options or indeed identify a single best
option.
Initiating groups or existing organisations do not have total freedom in drawing up
constitutions, memoranda and articles of association, rules or deeds of trust. They must
comply with existing law and be regulated by the appropriate agency.
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Incorporation versus un-incorporation
One of the first choices facing a group or organisation is that of whether or not to
incorporate. Incorporation means the creation of a legal identity for an organisation which
is separate from that of its members: a corporate body. In an unincorporated organisation,
the law does not recognise any distinction between the organisation and its members
themselves. A corporate body, however, is considered as a person in its own right (although
it is a “person legal” as opposed to a “person natural”).
The legal forms considered suitable for social economy enterprises fall into two groupings.
One of the first choices facing a group or organisation is that of whether or not to
incorporate. Incorporation means the creation of a legal identity for an organisation which
is separate from that of its members: a corporate body.
Partners in a partnership and members of the management committee of an unincorporated
association have unlimited cover in other words should the organisation fail to meet its
debts, those individuals may be required to meet them and that burden may well fall on
those most able to pay rather than all members equally. Therefore the better options for
any local Limavady group wishing to enter the world of social enterprise should be to look
more closely at the safeguards which are available through the creation of a legal
organisation distinct from its members.
Whilst this legal jargon may appear a minefield upon consideration, the development of tailored
and specific training and education programmes for social economic ventures can better inform
the sector and allay any fears people may have.
In undertaking any social initiative it is important that the activity is not delivered in naïve
isolation, rather, it has been market tested and researched with clear strategies devised as to
how to penetrate, secure market share, stabilise and consider further development. Again,
assistance can be sourced for the development of bespoke training services for this purpose as
well as through mainstream providers such as Invest Northern Ireland.
Management and Governance will always retain critical levels of importance in any social
enterprise and in many ways will define its success or failure. Much of these processes are
ultimately attributable to personnel and specific people. Within a community business setting,
business planning and ongoing management of product, resources and staff will be essential. This
should be the primary building blocks for success in the sector.
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3.2
Example modules of training / Business incubation
There are a number of professional organisations who specialise in training for Social Economy
enterprises. These support structures are in place within Belfast, Northern Ireland, the UK and
Ireland and aim to help individuals/groups in the Social Enterprise Sector to become successful,
thriving and sustainable businesses that are contributing to the wider economy. Some examples
are given below.
3.2.1
Social Enterprise Coalition
The SEC is the UK trade body that brings together all types of social enterprise to promote
the sector and share knowledge. To raise quality within the sector and to enhance its
capacity to grow, SEC play, a dual role of influencing the policy agenda and promoting best
practice.
3.2.2
New Ideas for Social Economy (NISE)
NISE is spearheaded by two community organisations operating on either side of the border
- Kesh Development Association based in Co. Fermanagh and the Association for the
Development of Pettigo and Tullyhommon (ADoPT) based in Pettigo, Co. Donegal. Both have
developed a partnership programme, which will build on existing opportunities to initiate a
unique cross-border programme. The Programme has been designed to stimulate growth in
the social economy and will have a significant impact on social enterprise development in
Ireland. The Programme is funded by Co-operation Ireland under Increasing Cross-Border
Economic Development Opportunities (Measure 5.1) of the EU Programme for Peace and
Reconciliation.
3.2.3. Invest NI
Invest NI works in partnership with private and public sector organisations and its main
focus is to help build a more vibrant private economy. Invest NI seek to achieve this by
encouraging more people to start a business, and by helping companies grow and compete
in global markets. Services are provided to: existing companies in Northern Ireland;
overseas companies seeking a supportive location; new start-ups with potential to trade
outside of Northern Ireland.
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3.2.4
Townsend Enterprise Park
Townsend Enterprise Park Limited is one of the largest Local Enterprise Agencies (LEAs) in
Northern Ireland and was one of the first to be established in Belfast. The company was
established in 1987 as a means of creating new opportunities, stretching the imagination and
promoting peace and reconciliation within the local community The Park offers a wide range of
services to small and medium sized businesses in their pre-start, start up and growth stages,
which include offering support, training and advice on marketing, finance, business plans and
business development as well as the provision of serviced workspace. The business objectives of
Townsend Enterprise Park are generally agreed as being; ‘to encourage the development of small
and medium sized businesses in this community thereby creating employment and providing a
focus for the social and economic regeneration of the district.
3.2.5
Ulster Community Investment Trust (UCIT)
Ulster Community Investment Trust (UCIT) was founded in 1995 in recognition that with
decreasing grant support from government, the future of community economic regeneration
depended on access to alternative sources of funding. With community enterprises traditionally
experiencing difficulty in attracting the assistance of mainstream banks, UCIT was established as
a provider of long-term loan facilities, free financial advice and support for this sector
Through organisations like Invest NI, DETI, Social Economy Network, School for Social
Entrepreneurship and Social Economy Belfast a number of bespoke training courses are run
during the year. It would appear that at present the new course funding from Invest NI which
supports training modules from Social Economy Belfast is not yet in place and the end of Peace III
funding has created a gap but this is expected to be filled in the next six months and fresh
funding streams come on line.
Social Entrepreneurship training is available from some organisations which operate by focusing
on the specific needs of the group requiring training and work towards completion and
accreditation of training in pre-start, Start-up and Growth modules. Mentoring and capacity
building are also built into the courses to ensure that best practice as a principle is established
and foremost in the group’s radar.
One other course which has distinct benefits is that run by Enterprise Agencies and that is the
Start a Business Programme. This course is run through Invest NI funding and offers a very
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practical insight into the ups and downs / dos and don’ts of setting up your own business. The
course as with most training modules are run over a period of months and build constructively
upon the skills and capacity developed in previous modules.
It is apparent that there are service providers in existence that can add significant expertise to
the sector and can promote and nurture excellence for the Limavady Borough. Limavady
Community Forum, under new strategic direction can have the potential to become a
consortium, striving to develop and access the best fit training programmes, specific to the
needs of the local area.
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3.3
Working with the private Sector – Key considerations
It is not an uncommon perception for the private sector to consider that social economy
enterprises are business oriented. In some cases they view the social economy as a threat,
representing unfair competition – larger social economy organisations are making “in-roads” into
work that had previously gone to the private sector, particularly in areas such as the care sector.
There is no doubt that social enterprises are established with a view to generate income, and
therefore simplistically are, essentially competition to the private sector, however the motives
tend to be very different.
It was felt that awareness of the ‘social economy’ among private companies is varied and
inconsistent. It was suggested that awareness is greater in rural areas where companies tend to
be smaller and more locally based.
Some efforts have been made to draw the private sector into Partnership activity. This needs to
be more concerted. Examples from the social economy in Scotland would suggest for example,
in the Highlands, partners are actively trying to push the procurement agenda with the private
sector as well as the public sector.
Success so far has been relatively limited. It was said that the most successful engagement with
private sector companies has taken place where Local Economic Fora are actively promoting the
social economy.
The Scottish Borders Enterprise Chamber, made up of social enterprise organisations, is building
a relationship with the local Chamber of Commerce. An active role for social enterprises within
the Chamber of Commerce was resisted by existing members as they were not perceived to face
the same business issues that private companies face.
The perception exists that while the private sector are inclined to think that “if a business can
work then why not make it a private enterprise – they assume that social enterprises mustn’t
work as a business”- this jaundiced view can create a barrier against opportunity which can
reflect upon the vulnerability of those groups preparing to move into the social economy as a
income generating stream.
There will be greater opportunities for partnership if social enterprises can show the private
sector that they work to the same principles and face the same issues as private business – the
one key difference being that they do not distribute profit to shareholders.
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It was felt that if social economy organisations and private companies are going to compete for
service contracts it will be beneficial to encourage increased co-operation (for example in
relation to sharing experience and, potentially, developing partnering arrangements health
services and child care are relevant local examples. Another local example is that of the LCDI
and the environmental recycling project).
By using local expertise for the benefit of all, Private Sector and Social Economy enterprises can
learn much from each other. The fear factor that evidently exists in the private sector can be
allayed through the development of trust and increased awareness. The issue here is that the
members of the community business sector do not always know what is taking place.
Utilising existing infrastructure, in this case, the Limavady Community Forum, and also the local
Chamber of Commerce, with partnership approaches and representation from members of all
sectors, economic activity and the associated benefits will accrue for the Limavady area.
3.4 Benchmarking and Good Practice Sharing
The importance of introducing good practice models at the earliest stage of development of any
social enterprise business is vital. This is borne out by the incorporation of such principles when
training courses are being constructed. Not only will good practice enable all the right boxes to
be ticked by the organisation setting up their enterprise but it will inherently act as a litmus test
or barometer to how they are doing.
The opportunities being made available through the experience of Limavady are that a clustering
approach should be established to facilitate that the communication of information is exchanged
between Social Economy Enterprises in Limavady Borough. This would not only help establish a
confidence in the sector but strengthen those organisations who are operating alone and in some
ways isolated from each other. The experience of sharing issues, is not only reassuring but instils
an understanding of some of the common difficulties which their respective enterprise my
encounter. It also enables the sector to direct groups towards established social economy
businesses which have invaluable experience that can help other groups from their area of
interest who may be contemplating setting up their own enterprise.
Through the Limavady Community Forum the creation of satellite clusters could be created
either by type, size or location. The most productive use of this principle would be the creation
of location satellites. The community / voluntary sector have training needs which would address
this and allow a phasing into a second tier of by type. This would be the long term objective and
enable effective clusters around business type to be established.
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This is only an observation at this juncture and one that would warrant significant further
consideration, potentially through a further feasibility study.
The Limavady Community Forum should take a more active role in developing the sharing of
good practice and effective benchmarking. Through the support of the Council’s economic
development unit greater advantage should be made to establish and ensure that the experience
of those groups already operating in the social economy, are encouraged to develop and extend
their capacity. By working closely with the Forum it should be possible to establish a charter for
local groups to sign up to when establishing a social enterprise which would enable them not
merely to form into clusters of support but give them a benchmark for their respective business
idea whether that be child care, advice centre, health related activities or environmental
interests.
3.5
Assessment of the Role of the Limavady Community Forum
3.5.1
An overview
Since the formation of the Limavady Community Forum in September 2005 there has been
significant research and consultation undertaken regarding community needs and expectations in
the Limavady borough and the surrounding urban and rural areas with some insight into how
these needs and expectations could be met. The Limavady community / voluntary sector have
demonstrated a limited willingness to be galvanised under the Forum.
The Limavady Community Forum’s action plan was designed to be flexible to facilitate progress
and change, while enabling funding opportunities to emerge. The nature of the Forum is to be
accommodating and inclusive of all groups therefore its action plan was general, practical and
realistic. From September 2005 to December 2006 a time line was drawn to calendar
responsibilities towards an AGM and officer election and the progress of a new action plan for
2007.
It was hoped that the Limavady Community Forum would attract a wide range of community
organisations, that would bring with them their own unique skills and expertise thus ensuring
that all committee business and potential development projects would be managed effectively
and efficiently. As a long-term goal the Limavady Community Forum is a concept with huge
potential, but the Forum needs to be more strategic, make special efforts to also include some
of the larger organisations and increasingly show drive and leadership as a body. The Borough
Council’s community support plan set the expectation for the development of the Forum.
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The community business development programme will enable the Forum to meet the needs of
the community / voluntary sector by implementing their mission statement
“To implement an equitable partnership in the Limavady borough for the benefit of all”
It should also be noted that while the recommendations for establishing the Forum provide a
local structure to embrace the community / voluntary sector, this particular concept also fits
within the wider strategic context of government strategy and policy.
In this report the
consultants have considered a range of local strategic documents and initiatives and articulate
how the community business development programme will contribute to the sustainability of the
sector if the proposals are considered and implemented.
3.5.2
Plotting a way forward for the Community Voluntary sector in Limavady
Those interviewed consistently thought Limavady Community Forum could be an important
conduit between Council and the community sector. It was also considered that the Forum could
promote cohesion within the sector locally and was potentially the right mechanism for the
sector to maintain a balance. However, there was a body of opinion which suggested the
Limavady Community Forum needed to be more independent of Council if it were to provide
leadership for the community /voluntary sector locally.
Some believed the expertise and
knowledge of the community /voluntary sector locally, especially from the larger organisations,
could be better utilised. Upon reflection of the entire process this is a very salient point.
There was a question mark over the capacity of the Limavady Community Forum. Was it
equipped to prepare the sector in the Borough for the challenge that RPA will provide, especially
if they have to compete for funding and support within Super Councils, from larger organisations
in areas such as Derry city.
The Forum, many believed, could be the focus for taking the voluntary and community sector
forward in the Borough, but some thought it needed to better provide, as a body, guidance and
leadership to the whole sector, especially in the context of the challenges of the Re-organisation
of Public Administration.
Other areas of concern were that the strategic role of Limavady Community Forum needed to be
enhanced. Larger community / voluntary organisations believed they should be a core part of
the work of the Forum. In the final analysis the Council’s community support plan acknowledged
that the role of the Community Forum was crucial to the development of the sector.
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Respondents from the interview process identified issues affecting the Forum. While there
were those who spoke favourably of the Forum and its activity there were a number of
themes which need to be addressed if the perception of the Forum is to be positive and it is
to act in consort with its mission statement.
In order to place in context the concerns and negativity expressed towards the Forum by
some respondents, the consultants have examined the themes which underlie these and
militate against the forum’s progress and activity in focusing on the development of the
community / voluntary sector in Limavady. The consultants understand that for these
reasons the Forum could be more effective if it regained its focus to consolidate and
refocus over the next year to rebuild its activities around its mission statement.
Some of the comments obtained through this process can be seen below in relation to the
effectiveness of Limavady Community Forum.
“they have started and indeed helped to deliver some good programmes in the
borough but few benefit”
“some organisations have benefited in a small way however they are handpicked”
“yes, for the groups represented”
At the other end of the spectrum these views are balanced by those who where suspicious
and frustrated at its lack of independence from the Council and consider the Forum to have
been less effective:
“council should take a back seat role and let the groups have ownership of the Forum”
“now the Forum is unsettled and a lot of members have lost interest”
“too much time has been spent wrangling over organisational issues”
These and comments like them suggest that the ground gained over the previous setting up
period had been lost as a result of lack of direction, focus and an inability to establish a
strong directional leadership.
A number of respondents had lost interest and smaller groups many in rural locations
stopped attending when the focus of the Forum meetings had deteriorated into
disagreements between members. This was in part a result of the decision to redraft the
constitution and allow council a more inclusive role.
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It must be countered however that the Limavady Council wish to promote effective
community development, which, in essence will result in the fears of those above being
allayed as Council wish to develop a vibrant, socially sustainable community and voluntary
sector. It is unhealthy, and this has been realised through this process to retain so much
dependence upon any agency, Council or otherwise.
3.5.3
The forum reinvented?
The respondents largely agreed that the role of an umbrella organisation or community hub
was needed and that the Forum was the right vehicle to provide this but before that could
happen it was essential that the issues effecting and stagnating its functions needed to be
resolved and that this would require positive and sensible marketing to reinforce its neutral
position in the sector.
While the groups who responded to the process indicated the training needs it was also
evident from the interviews and questionnaire responses that the Forum needs to focus on
networking and developing capacity within the groups in the sector.
The Forum activities need to be developed to provide information sharing, networking,
supporting smaller and more vulnerable organisations and sharing best practice.
After the AGM has elected a new committee and officers it should make it a priority to get
a team building session together to establish their roles and responsibilities and focus on
objectives and direction.
The opportunity to improve communications with the sector is absolutely crucial. If the
Forum is to fulfil its role in the community / voluntary sector it will have to get across a
clear and simple message and inform the sector that it is open for business. The consultants
felt that for the Forum to meet its full potential the Forum steering committee should
undertake a period of training to increase capacity, team build and establish direction and
drive into the committee to demonstrate a focused and strategic approach to its and the
sector’s sustainability.
The Forum needs to re-establish itself as a catalyst for signposting groups to funders as well
as seek to deliver funding, training programmes and networking. It needs to establish a
calendar of events ranging from special networking events to regular training sessions not
based upon open invitation but working more closely with the sector to reinvigorate and
assist smaller groups, the consultants believe the practice of partnering larger more
affective organisations with smaller groups or clusters of small groups in buddying schemes
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to create a learning environment to help develop capacity and utilise the practical
experience which already exists within the sector can enable the transfer of skills and
experience.
Several respondents felt that the sector placed too much emphasis on having their own
facilities and that the “community centre in every hole in the hedge” was neither practical
nor cost effective and that practical mergers should take place to ensure the maximum
utilisation of facilities occur.
The council’s Community Development Unit set its primary aim “to develop capacity and
leadership within the context of integrated planning processes for the delivery of services to
people most in need” The development of Limavady Community Forum should be the primary
voice for the community and voluntary sector in the Borough. The development of a number of
sector interests and representation, the development of leadership within the community /
voluntary sector have been acknowledged as key issues in the community support plan.
The opportunities provided by this project will enable a clearer focus upon the difficulties
experienced by the Limavady Community Forum and promote the extension of business
through social economy and enterprise built upon an ethical and community based ethos.
3.5
Latent potential for Limavady Borough
It is evident from the information researched and the scoping undertaken that the real potential
for the borough’s community / voluntary sector to enlarge its social economy is very real. Serious
steps need to be undertaken to ensure that the currently fragile approach is injected with
serious impetus. There are too many groups who have not yet associated their need to generate
income to sustain themselves’ with the potential to do this wholly or in part through enlisting in
the social economy. The fear factor and preconceptions need to be tackled head on through
effective communication and increasing their self reliance.
Limavady Borough Council provides a range of support services as part of their community
services responsibility. Grant assistance forms an important part of this support, especially as
many groups within the sector have a heavy dependence upon limited funding to survive.
The level and type of grant assistance for groups within the voluntary and community sector
varies but is provided in line with the objectives of the council’s support plan, within budget
constraints and the guidelines by DSD as laid down in the ‘Beyond the Centre’ document.
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
The first level of granting available is for the provision of a seeding grant to enable a
bourgeoning group to establish itself. Seeding grants are up to £100 for the first year of
a community groups’ existence.

Grants are available for groups without premises of up to £100 per year for
administration, up to £300 per year for special events, and up to £75 per year for
training.

Grants are available for community groups with premises of up to £2,000 per group per
year for running costs, special events and training.

Summer scheme grants of “between” £50 - £300.

Emergency one-off grants of up to £150 for extreme circumstances.

Discretionary grants for one-off payments of up to £100 for new or innovative projects
where support has not previously been provided.
These are certainly not awe inspiring figures and will not deliver real outcomes for the purposes
for which they are intended. On the contrary these are seen as support, not whole answers to
key issues. With this considered, it is evident that the Community Development sector wish to
promote self reliance.
This report clearly demonstrates the potential for the Limavady Community Forum to be a
successful umbrella organisation for the community / voluntary sector in the area. It’s focus as a
signpost and fund generator for the community / voluntary sector in the Limavady area has been
established although over recent months a number of issues have militated against its continued
progress. It also has a role to oversee training and steer the sectors sustainability. This will only
be achieved if it embraces the concept as a catalyst for the sector. The Forum needs to be more
strategic, make special efforts to also include community sector as a whole and increasingly
show drive and leadership as a body. There will be short term and medium term proposals to
regain ground lost in the past year and establish the Forum’s bone fides.
Proposals have also been made in the report for a strategic recommendation on long term social
enterprise development. It is evident that groups will need to be developed through a practical
approach to training and training needs, ensuring a stepping stone option for groups to become
self-sustainable. This option will further ensure the community business development
programme’s long term effectiveness and its strategic sustainability as it enables the effective
evolution of groups dependent for so long upon grant aid and a hand to mouth existence from
council funding. It is therefore a necessity to establish a thorough understanding and
development of effective social economy.
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3.6
Community Animation
Community Animation is a process whereby the main protagonists in a social / community
environment come together to assess, identify, prioritise and focus on achieving local goals.
These goals are a result of collective responsibility and will become the focus of all activity for
that specific purpose, with all parties ‘reading from the same page’ it is creating the proper
conditions for real community change. The same can be seen of Limavady.
There is now a very definite need and urgency for the community / voluntary sector to come
together and amalgamate their aspirations under one common goal. The vehicle for this gesture
is the Limavady Community Forum. By setting these strategic objectives the sector will have
moved forward in a quantum-leap and reasserted its agenda both at a council and borough level
and also across the North West with the prospect of Reorganisation of the Public Administration
which will see the creation of 11 super councils in Northern Ireland. The importance of acting
strategically is crucial if the sector wants to be punching above its weight and ensuring it is heard
among its community / voluntary sector counterparts in the other councils drawn under the RPA
model.
Part of this object should be the creation of a minimum standard for all groups to aspire to
achieve. This will ensure a baseline capacity is achieved with pathways for further progression in
place. This standard is again the subject of a further in depth piece of work, one which can be
conducted by the Community Forum as a first step in the community animation process, although
there is no doubt it will consider such things as financial management training, business acumen,
communication and marketing core skills. Groups need to be aware that just as the political
environment around them is changing, they too need to adapt to survive and by embracing the
concept of change and progression, and working it to their advantage they will be best placed
against their counterparts to survive in an increasingly financially squeezed Northern Ireland.
Those who do not grasp this period effectively threaten their own survival in the post RPA
environment.
3.7
Conclusion
The future for the community / voluntary sector is not destined to be a period punctuated by
healthy handouts and grant aid by council or other agencies. The current economic state
indicates that the aspirations of this government established over three years ago – one of thrift
and reduced spending has now become a reality and as the grant funding hand outs are reined in
the environment is one of adapt and survive. Social enterprise considerations as a means to
survive, certainly appears a very real alternative to failure.
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4
Chapter
4.1
Establishing, Developing and sustaining a
Community Enterprise
Introduction to chapter
This chapter explores some of the important hurdles that can be encountered in setting up a
successful social enterprise and reflects upon the difficulties and challenges which are in the
path of potential local entrepreneurs.
4.2
From Concept to Reality
The difficulties in establishing an effective social enterprise are not always evident. The first real
challenge comes when what you are told is not always how it turns out. The text books and
trainers can only give you advice and direction but they cannot live the experience. No two
experiences are the same and that is why a mentoring or ‘hand holding’ process is recommended
by most trainers and business advisors to support community enterprises in their early and
stepping periods.
There is no doubt that all community enterprise initiatives must begin somewhere. It is fair to
say in all walks of industrial and commercial life that everything must originate from an idea. In
today’s society we are continually exposed to television campaigns promoting reality life
experiences, Big Brother for instance. We are also afforded the opportunity to avail of the
programme, Dragons Den, in which 5 of Britain’s most successful business magnates listen to
prospective entrepreneurs and their ideas and inventions before deciding whether or not to
invest their own personal wealth. These ideas are not wholly removed from the reality of the
evolution of community enterprise.
When those ‘Businesses’ in Limavady decided they had a product / service idea to market which
would generate income for longer term sustainability it was important that they were able to
articulate this idea, garner local support as well as secure the necessary finance to make this
concept a reality. Dragons Den gives successful applicants exposure to ongoing business
mentoring to ensure that the business becomes a success, and that the faith and investment are
repaid.
In Limavady, the Community Forum could evolve to provide delivery of this mentoring and
support process through local social economy businesses. This will not be in the same vein as
Dragons Den but moreover can ensure that more and more capacity is developed through
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information awareness and exchange, information sharing and appropriate training and resource
deployment to encourage more and more community and voluntary sector organisations in the
Limavady Borough to embark on a social economic path.
4.3
Identifying and Mitigating Risks and Constraints
With the changing culture in grants support and the current financial status there is less money
to go around and this should be the claxon for groups to start to build their defences not to run
for shelter. By adapting they can counteract the problems they are likely to encounter in
establishing sustainable income through community social economy.
Groups need to inform themselves what opportunities are available, what they need to do and
how they need to adapt to take the full benefit of these. It also suggests that there is a
necessary role for a community / voluntary umbrella organisation will be the lobbying agent if
the sector is to be effective. The Limavady Community Forum needs to adapt and reinvent itself
if it is to provide the necessary responsibilities that are expressed in its mission statement. One
key function is its role in helping steer the change in the community and to do this it needs to be
strategic in both vision and leadership, resolute in the success of its objectives and independent –
a champion for smaller and more isolated groups - while retaining guardianship of the sector.
Risks to be considered in this process include;
Market Risks





Legislation Risks;
Competition Risks;
Lower Uptake of Business Services;
Public Sector Purchasing Risks;
Community / Voluntary Sector Risks
Operating Risks




Governance and Management Risk;
Financial Management and Funding
Risk;
Staffing and Resource Risks;
Core Business and Focus Risks
The Community / Voluntary sector is quite volatile because of the differing influences that it is
consistently faced with. This can mean that organisations always have to change what their core
focus is to meet with government agenda and secure funding for their existence.
This ‘changing with the wind’ approach that represents a small percentage of community
organisations could have negative impacts on some of the services of the new business.
Bearing these points in mind the Community and Voluntary Sector should be mindful of the
following risks and constraints in operating within the social economy;
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Direct Business Risks
Indirect Business Risks

Personnel


Finance

Continuity

Wider Economic Conditions

Competition / Similar services in

Legal conditions / stipulations for the
Administration
sector
immediate area

Local take up of business services

Fear of increased responsibility

Marketing and Communication
Reorganisation of Public

Satisfice rather than progression
These only begin to consider the environmental conditions that any new social enterprise will
have to operate within. As with all businesses personnel are key. The commitment, ambition,
capacity and development of no two people tends to be the same. The management structures
of any new entity will have to ensure that processually they are in a position to continue in the
event of people leaving or moving on, for whatever reason.
Within the Community and Voluntary Sector, legal and technical requirements to qualify for
funding will always dictate priority action within organisations. The new entities must ensure
that the aims and objectives that govern the social enterprise are always retained and a primary
focus within the organisation.
An exciting opportunity exists for the Community infrastructure in Limavady to galvanise and
ensure that through shared experiences and information, threats to survival and success are
satisfactorily mitigated.
4.4
Reorganisation of Public Administration
2011 is coming closer with each month and the time table for the introduction of the 11 Super
council system, the redrawing of the boundaries, the appointment of new responsibilities and
the election of a new layer of councillors expected to be more responsible, deliver value for
money and retrain for the task should be an added incentive to groups whose current position in
the community will be redefined as the councils become bigger and embrace neighbouring
community / voluntary sectors.
It is important therefore that the Limavady Community / voluntary sector is ready for this
reorganisation and has established itself under an effective umbrella organisation to do this.
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Groups should re-familiarise themselves with the Forum and its role and grasp the opportunity to
influence and change its role and remit for 2011.
4.5
Market researching and testing
There are a number of professional organisations who specialise in market research and testing
of products and services. Many of the best practice examples given in the report as Northern
Ireland examples have taken these steps to identify a clear and critical path towards the
strongest and most rigid products or services needed within their community and where the
market exists and how high the demand would be.
These are common principles which any business enterprise would wish to apply. A community
social enterprise is no exception and should be focused on a professional and competent
approach to establishing their income generator. Gingerbread NI are considering the expansion of
their organisation into the social economy market place and have considered products and
services which will be properly market researched and tested to ensure that they are fit for
purpose. It is only through such established practices can the best long term success be
achieved.
In considering any business venture it is imperative, particularly within the Community and
Voluntary Sector, to test the viability of the product / service prior to embarking on a formal
incorporation as a Limited Company to pursue the product as a sustainable income generating
tool. This is a core skill and one that the Community infrastructure in Limavady must embrace in
order to ensure they survive in a competitive marketplace.
4.6
Developing a Robust Product / Service
Once the essential market research has been undertaken and the field of opportunity narrowed
down the choice of products / services which could be developed for production can be
identified. Again training and advice are available to steer groups through each stage of the
process but it is important that the decisions are made not on subjectivity but on hard market
research. The market place can be very rewarding if the right decisions are made but equally
unforgiving if the wrong ones are entered into.
Product choice can be so important and it is therefore worth taking time to get this right. Local
support and experience can come from those who have ready taken this route and demonstrated
that they made the correct choice. In each case the simple rule applies base the decision upon
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factual evidence. The stronger product, the most enduring one will always be the product which
has been properly evaluated and market tested.
Advice for this important aspect of the process is also available from a number of government
sponsored organisations identified in chapter 3.3.2.
4.7
Adaptability, Survival and Market place Diversification
Many groups enter into the social economy with the intention of supporting themselves and take
the opportunity to diversify. The timing of this decision is crucial. It is always better to make
these changes after serious thought and research. The market place may be responsive to a
group adapting and diversifying but it again needs to be backed up by market research.
Any change can put a burden on the organisation and unless it has been properly budgeted for
and resourced the decision could well place existing stability under immense pressure. Changing
or developing a new services or products requires a strategic approach and while it needs to be
researched there are cases where it could be to the distinct benefit of the group’s business.
One such example could be the decision by a craft business to progress from selling their own
products to sourcing an agent or retailer who could expand their output and sell their exclusive
range of craft goods. While this could reduce the pressure of providing sales staff and volunteers
it adds the pressure at the production end and places greater demand on the quality and
quantity of product being produced. Another example would be through the expansion and
diversification of a service which needs staffing levels to be maintained at certain levels. The
opportunity to increase into this service and diversify could appear at the outset to be
worthwhile but identifying if there is a competing service available elsewhere and if it has been
cancelled for any reason are all important issues. Proper research needs to be undertaken to
identify if the need for the service exists and if it will generate income. The group must then
decide how to balance the need for the service against the generation of income, all the ethical
questions will be asked and need to be answered before a decision is made.
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4.8
An Essential Toolkit for Limavady Third Sector
This report was commissioned to ascertain the levels of and the capacity to become, sustainable
social economy enterprises in the Limavady Borough. There is no doubt that through this process,
the Community and Voluntary sector respondents to the various forms of consultation deployed
have conveyed a desire to become better and to strive to become self sustainable.
The previous good work undertaken by the Community Business Development Manager began to
harness the necessary skills and resources for the sector to achieve this lofty position. The core
considerations to this toolkit were similar to many of those same issues that have presented
themselves through this report. (Finance / Management / communication / training and
enhancement)
A copy of this previous piece of work has been included as an appendix to this report following
permission from the authors and project promoters.
A suggested toolkit, in the form of collective actions and areas for development to enhance the
standing of the Community and Voluntary Sector in Limavady will be presented in Section 5 of
this document, however some brief observations are as follows;
The issues raised throughout the report and the indicative conclusions from the research tools
point to a way forward for the Community / voluntary sector and the Limavady Community
Forum. The approach strategic and the there should be a degree of urgency now that the AGM
has taken place. The issues affecting training needs have been addressed identifying the target
of key skills from the questionnaires and other research tools. Lifting group capacity within the
sector will create a base line of skills to enhance the less able groups while further refreshing
those groups who have greater capacity and much to contribute.
A flexible community infrastructure will create resilience among its sector participants and
better equip them for the potential to lobby both for resources and direction. This in itself is an
enabler for the Forum providing a higher level of talented and committed community activists to
successively fulfil the officer and committee positions each year and refresh and invigorate the
necessary changes in direction that will be demanded from RPA and other changes in the public
and community sector.
To understand the needs of the community sector and to produce a framework that can seek to
redress the imbalances and inadequacies that exist, what follows are a series of short, medium
and longer term objectives for the sector.
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Short and medium term Goals

Market the positive aspects of the role of the Limavady Community Forum as a neutral
and inclusive catalyst for the community / voluntary sector

A concentrated training programme to take place to engage groups within the sector to
enable best practice on sustainability and business development

Focus on group training needs and work with smaller localised clusters whether urban or
rural to ensure a stronger working practice within a given community

The role of umbrella or community hub was needed and that the Forum was the right
vehicle

Limavady Community Forum steering committee to undertake a period of training to
increase capacity, team build, leadership skills and lobbying skills
Medium to long term

Act as a catalyst for signposting groups to funders as well as seek to deliver funding
Events ranging from special networking events to regular training sessions

Establish the practice of partnering larger more effective organisations with smaller
groups or clusters of small groups in a buddy scheme

Clustering of groups with social enterprise and the potential to establish community
social enterprise by location as a staging post towards establishing clusters by type

The Forum to establish its role in identifying potential future sources of funding
including regional sources has been undertaken. For all those sources - funding agencies
and statutory agencies, associated resource providers and intermediary funding bodies
provide the potential for securing sustainability for the community and voluntary sector
in the Limavady Borough and the Forum.

Council to provide specific resources to grow the capacity within the sector and identify
the opportunities for sustainability. Develop fundraising strategies and action areas for
securing financial and other associated support.
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4.8
Conclusion
The development of the Community Development Business Programme should begin as soon as
possible after the Forum accepts the findings of this research and report. As part of the terms of
reference, the Forum has requested that the consultant team provide opportunities for training
to build the capacity of the groups and lead to a strong community infrastructure.
These opportunities exist and by examining the specific direction chosen they can be worked up
into practical training modules to enhance the groups’ capacity to develop a broader
understanding of the importance of business practice and income generation.
A clear recommendation for this process to become clearer and inspirational, not only to the
project promoters in Limavady Community Forum but also through some of those groups
operating within the social economy sector or considering doing so, to visit some of those
examples cited in this report. Theoretical information can inform where practical interventions
and enhancement can occur.
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5
Chapter
5.1
Action planning
Introduction
This process has highlighted many opportunities and aspects of development that must be firstly
considered in detail and then overcame for the Community and Voluntary sector in Limavady to
assert a position whereby they can become self sustainable.
To highlight the issues and indicate the actions that may accompany them the following table
will present an exemplar Action Plan. The detail herein will require much community animation
and collective responsibilities if it is to become successful. It is also fair to say that much of the
training and capacity building requirements of the sector will require much further work.
5.2
Action planning for Limavady Community and Voluntary Sector
Issue
Action
Responsibility
Support for new
Social Enterprise
Establish a localised community voice
for ongoing support and advocacy
Sector in general
Develop training and awareness
programmes to highlight the social
economy
Personnel
Limavady Community Forum /
Limavady BC
Statutory training providers
Create localised best practice clusters
to share experiences and information
Community Forum / Council /
Sector groups
Administer social economy
programmes and support with like
level organisations
All above
Replacement Community Business
Manager/Co-ordinator
Limavady Community Forum /
Limavady BC
Seek to ensure continuity for local
support staff resources
Seek that Social Enterprises will retain
core staff for ease of continuity
Equipment and
Resource
requirements
Assessment of needs analysis of social
economy businesses within the sector
Limavady Community Forum /
Limavady BC
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Diversification
Training and ongoing
professional
development
Communication
5.3
Periodic research to identify and
assess range and viability of product
and service quality and sustainable
market demand
Continue to audit the localised needs
for training
Develop bespoke training for Limavady
Community initiatives using Limavady
context
Social enterprises / council /
Community Forum/ Groups
Community Forum / Council /
Sector groups
Local social enterprises /
Limavady Community Forum /
Limavady BC
Seek to identify suitable funding from
agencies such as Invest NI / Limavady
Council / DETI / Social Economy
Networks
Community Forum / Council /
Sector groups
Ensure access to training through a
variety of means
Community Forum / Council /
Sector groups
Use Best practice examples as means
to develop local capacity
All of the above
Information sheet / networking /
inter-group liaison
Sector groups / Limavady
Community Forum / Limavady
BC
Conclusion
The employment of this action plan and its identified tasks will provide an excellent baseline for
the progress, development and strategic maturity of the Limavady community and voluntary
sector. It also stands at the gateway to growth of the sector into a much broader sharing of the
concept of social enterprise and holds the key to informing and facilitating a more
comprehensive approach and understanding of the opportunities available to those groups who
recognise the importance of reaching out and securing their own sustainability through
generating income and confident diversification. The days of limitless council and other funder
handouts are rapidly coming to an end and it is only through a higher degree of self reliance that
a stronger sector can manage in the new economic climate and political change.
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6
Chapter
Conclusions
6.1
The real task of this report was to scope the Limavady community / voluntary sector and identify
potential for training needs, existing capacity within the sector and provide opportunities for
networking with a wide range of organisations from statutory agencies to private sector
businesses.
The opportunities for the community /voluntary sector to enhance its capacity and develop its
structure are very real challenges for the days ahead. It will require an equally realistic
approach. By moving strategically and establishing a strong and focused direction it has a very
real opportunity not only to develop business skills within the sector but face the inevitable
challenges that will come with the reorganisation of the Public Sector through RPA.
The sooner this occurs the better this will be and it will afford many more groups within its ranks
to enable themselves to severe the umbilical cord with Council as their primary or only funder.
This cut is coming and it would be far better for the sector to take on the inevitable rather than
be left to face it ill-equipped and ill-prepared. Reducing the dependency on Limavady Council is
not a weakness but merely a necessary stage through which all groups should expect to go if they
are to be ultimately responsible for growing their capacity and organisations.
The focus on training needs should be with groups and as indicated in the research this needs to
be with strategic training needs. It should be undertaken in small clusters locally. This not only
strengthens the capacity in each locality but increases the opportunity for better attendance and
baseline results in the locality. It should be done in localised clusters whether urban or rural to
ensure a stronger working practice within a given community.
The role of an umbrella or community hub is needed within the sector. The Forum was the right
vehicle for this. Limavady Community Forum steering committee should also undertake a period
of training to increase capacity, team building, leadership skills and lobbying skills.
The Forum should act as a catalyst for signposting groups to funders as well as seek to deliver
funding events ranging from special networking to regular training sessions. Establishing the
practice of partnering larger more effective organisations with smaller groups or clusters of small
groups in a buddy scheme has considerable merits. This should be introduced as a principle of
good practice. Clustering of groups with social enterprise has potential. It would be best to
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establish community social enterprise by locality clusters as a staging post towards establishing
clusters by type.
Copius and FPM see a very real opportunity for the Forum to develop strategically and act as the
conduit for community /voluntary sector expansion towards self sustainability. The Steering
Committee of the Limavady Community Forum must now consider these options and the reports
conclusions.
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7
Chapter
Appendices
Appendix 1
Limavady Community Audit Questionnaire
Appendix 2
Original Community Business Development Report
Appendix 3
Toolkit for Social Economy; Developed by Community Business Development
Manager
Others
Community Grading / Self Assessment tool
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