Community projects and social enterprises often bring some of the most innovative ideas to the table in the pursuit of improving quality of life for people and taking care of the environment, solving problems, and making the world a better place.
Social entrepreneur Fiyaz Mughal has established several social enterprises and community projects, including Tell MAMA,a hate crime reporting and monitoring service that you can read more about in the attached infographic. Here we take a look at seven of the best community projects and social enterprises that have been established in recent years or are currently under development.
Letterbox
Letterbox (working title) is a new social network being piloted by Salome Simoes and Samantha Cornick, designed to connect people living close by with similar interests and to bring together individuals who may need extra help with others nearby who are willing and able to offer that help. The scope of Letterbox ranges from providing a platform for members of a local community to set up activities such as running clubs or book groups, to creating a network whereby people who have the time and inclination are able to find others in their area who need help with things such as gardening or shopping.
Groundswell
Groundswell is a social enterprise that brings together groups of consumers to use their collective bargaining power for the good of all. Issues addressed by Groundswell include how the cost of luxury items is falling while the cost of necessary products and services is rising. Collective consumer power helps to make services such as access to renewable energy cheaper for the individual.
Swipes for the Homeless
Swipes for the Homeless was started by college students in the US and has since been adopted by major colleges and universities across the States. The platform gives students who have meal plan points left over the opportunity to donate these to local homeless people.
If you would like to find out more about how to set up a social enterprise of your own, you can do so by reading the PDF attachment to this post.
A Piece of the PIE
PIE stands for psychologically informed environment and A Piece of the PIE works to create just that for rough sleepers. PIE looks at training relevant workers to understand the background and often complex needs of rough sleepers in order to be able to provide better, more targeted services for those individuals.
Voidstarter
Voidstarter is based in Dublin and works to convert vacant housing units into temporary spaces to promote progress in various different forms. Essentially, these spaces that are otherwise being wasted in the short-term can be used to provide shelter for the homeless, or set up as entrepreneur labs, learning centres or areas where unemployed people can come to learn new skills.
Auticon
Winner of the ‘One to Watch Award’ at the 2017 Social Enterprises Awards in the UK, Auticon creates autism-positive working environments, employing only autistic consultants and facilitating corporations with the means to tap into the unique talents and skills of the autistic community.
Silent Secret
Silent Secret is a platform for young people both online and offline, acting as a safe space for youngsters aged between 11 and 19 to share secrets anonymously, accessing support and gaining acceptance from a wider community. It was established by co-founder of Brighter Steppings Seun Oshinaike, which develops educational programmes for young people.
If you are still unsure what a social enterprise is, you can find out more by watching the short video attachment to this post.