Is your organisation a Work Integration Social Enterprise?
If so, this is an opportunity for you to…
FREE OF CHARGE!
MAKE A WISE MOVE!
This is an opportunity to showcase your organisation to local businesses who are seeking to achieve greater social impact through partnering on commercial or sustainability projects.
This free-of-charge service is being developed by Speedpak Group as part of the Awareness Raising Initiative for Social Enterprises [ARISE] Programme approved by Government with support from the Dormant Accounts Fund.
WHAT IS A SOCIAL ENTERPRISE?
Social enterprises…
- are businesses that work primarily to improve the lives of people. The business of social enterprise is social good
- are businesses that operate to meet a social need
- generate profits that are reinvested – rather than distributed among shareholders, as in the case of most businesses
- operate in all areas of Ireland’s social and economic life, trading in goods and services, and re-investing any profit into delivering their mission in communities
- use a business-plus model, which emphasises social need and the re-investment of profit into their core mission.
- operate like any other business in that they produce goods and services for which a customer pays. The defining difference is that they invest all profits back into the businesses they run.
WHAT IS A WORK INTEGRATION SOCIAL ENTERPRISE [WISE]?
“Work Integration Social Enterprises exist mainly to improve the employability and employment prospects of people furthest from the labour market.”
O’Hara & O’Shaughnessy, 2021
“Work Integration Social Enterprises …support disadvantaged people to prepare for, and participate in, the labour market,”
Irish National Social Enterprise Policy 2019
ABOUT THE WISE PROJECT
The goal of this WISE project is to increase procurement opportunities for social enterprises, on Dublin’s Northside, so they can continue to support people who face significant barriers to the labour market.
5 Key Objectives:
(i) to identify Work Integration Social Enterprises [WISEs] operating in our area
(ii) to develop an online showcase of goods and services that local WISEs can offer
(iii) to raise awareness of WISEs among local businesses, using a promotional campaign
(iv) to demonstrate how, by partnering on commercial or social projects with WISEs, local businesses can be supported in achieving their Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs]
(v) to enable businesses that want to create a positive social and local impact to easily find WISEs with whom they can be matched
This local project is being undertaken in the wider context of a growing movement to increase procurement opportunities for social enterprises. We are proud to be partnering with BuySocial Europe, a pioneering initiative to help large companies bring social enterprises into their supply chains. BuySocial Europe is led by Social Enterprise UK in partnership with the EUCLID Network and the Social Enterprise World Forum.
This project coincides with the recent announcement that Social Enterprise Republic of Ireland [SERI] – as part of a consortium that includes Amárach Consulting and the Irish Local Development Network – has been awarded a tender to undertake the first Irish social enterprise census. We hope that this project will support their work and further increase the visibility of the sector.
FOR WISES…
WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU?
This is an opportunity to:
Increase revenue by showcasing your products and services and, potentially, acquiring new commercial contracts and becoming part of the supply chain of a large local business.
Promote your organisation to secure partnerships with local businesses through their Corporate Social Responsibility [CSR], sustainability and philanthropic initiatives.
Build a pipeline of employment opportunities for your training staff to secure jobs in the local labour market.
FOR BUSINESSES…
WHAT’S IN IT FOR BUSINESSES?
The Wise Ireland project will feature a directory of local work integration social enterprises as well as information on how businesses can achieve greater sustainability through collaboration or partnering with WISEs.
This is an opportunity for businesses who are seeking:
Local suppliers of goods or services – and to be part of a growing global trend in social procurement.
To achieve their Sustainable Development Goals [SDGs] by partnering on a local philanthropy project
A local pipeline of talented labour.
ABOUT SPEEDPAK
This project is being delivered by Speedpak Group as part of the 2022 Awareness Raising Initiatives for Social Enterprises [ARISE] programme approved by Government with support from the Dormant Accounts Fund.
Speedpak is one of Ireland’s longest established work integration social enterprises, operating two successful commercial businesses, Speedpak Contract Services and Shamrock Rosettes.
It has achieved considerable success, since its foundation in 1995, having provided real commercial work experience and accredited training programmes to over 1400 long-term unemployed people.
Speedpak has also played a key role in promoting the social enterprise sector. In recent years this has included involvement in the Social Enterprise Task Force and membership of the research group that informed Ireland’s first National Social Enterprise Policy in 2019. The Policy was launched in Speedpak that year.
WHY WE’RE DOING THIS
We know there are many WISEs providing fantastic goods and services. However, there is currently very little data on the number of WISEs operating in Ireland, nor is there any central source of information on this part of the social enterprise sector.
We are undertaking this project to address this ‘visibility gap’ by identifying WISEs (on Dublin’s Northside initially) and by showcasing their mission as well as the goods and services they can offer.
We want to show that WISEs are as capable as any other sector of supplying goods and services in a competitive commercial marketplace.
We believe that businesses need to have a greater understanding of what social enterprises are.
We want to show businesses that WISEs can be a catalyst for positive social change and that there are opportunities on their doorstep for collaborating on projects that have sustainable outcomes.
We want to make it easier for businesses to find a local WISE that can support them in achieving their Sustainable Development Goals through partnering on commercial or social projects.
JOIN US!
If you would like to be part of raising your company’s profile and that of our sector – for free – please get in contact by providing your details below or by emailing us at info@wiseireland.ie
The WISE Ireland website is now up-and-running at www.wiseireland.ie !
CONTACT
THE WISE IRELAND PROJECT,
c/o Speedpak Group,
Units 5 – 8 Clonshaugh Business & Technology Park,
Coolock, Dublin 17, D17 Y336, Ireland.