Birmingham and Solihull Social Economy Consortium CIC (BSSEC)
BSSEC is the network organisation for social enterprises in Birmingham and Solihull. The Trust has been a core funder of its work for some years. In the early years of our partnership, BSSEC worked on Social Value, gathering evidence and successfully advocating for Birmingham City Council to become a Social Value authority.
Core funding from the Trust has enabled BSSEC not only to continue its valuable work of connecting social enterprises, but has also enabled it to play a key role in the development of the social enterprise sector in the region as a member of the West Midland’s Combined Authority’s (WMCA’s) Social Economy Taskforce.
The findings of the taskforce led WMCA to adopt a Social Economy Growth Strategy which will, among other things, fund 10 hub organisations to develop investment plans for their local areas. BSSEC remains at the heart of WMCA’s strategy, convening the West Midlands Social Economy Forum which brings the sector together to discuss key issues which feed into the Growth Strategy.
