Expert heads Down Under to give advice
Oct 7 2009 By The Journal
SOCIAL enterprise champion Margaret Elliott is heading down under to spread the social enterprise message in Australia.
Ms Elliott successfully built Sunderland Home Care Associates into a national social enterprise winner, with workers owning and running the company and having shares in the business.
She now divides her time between managing the business – which has a turnover of £2.7m and employs around 300 people – and spreading the social enterprise message for Sunderland-based enterprise development agency SES.
Ms Elliott, who last year was awarded the OBE for her services to the community, is a keynote speaker at next week’s Social Enterprise World Forum in Melbourne. She then travels on to Sydney where she will give a talk about her experiences to the Australian Employee Ownership Association.
She said: "The world forum will attract people from across the globe who work in social enterprise and who are interested in launching and growing new ventures.
"I will be talking about the need for new thinking in the wake of the credit crunch and banking crisis. Mutuality is the opposite of the ‘greed is good’ mentality and this is where we should look for a new economic model.
"The philosophy and ethos of co-operatives is about valuing the people who work in an organisation and giving them the best terms and conditions while delivering first rate services."
The trip to Australia comes after Ms Elliott visited the Liberal Democrat conference to lecture on the success of social enterprise and she has also just returned from a Department of Health event in London promoting social enterprise.
SES director Mark Heskett-Saddington said: "The global economic climate shows that a new way of thinking is needed to address some of society’s most entrenched economic, political and social issues. Social Enterprise offers an alternative model to tackling social change.
"Margaret is a superb ambassador for social enterprise and it is no surprise that she is invited to events across the UK and the world. She demonstrates how we are leading the field in the North East in the growth of social enterprise."
The Social Enterprise World Forum is being co-hosted by Social Ventures Australia and Social Traders and aims to support the emerging Australian social enterprise movement, showcase successful enterprises and raise the profile of the sector.
