Contract Readiness for VCSEs: Building Partnerships and Consortia

Are you seeking to expand your organisation's reach and capabilities through strategic partnerships and consortia?

This 90 minute webinar is the ideal first step towards contract readiness, giving voluntary, community or social enterprises (VCSEs) a solid grounding in building partnerships and consortiums.

This webinar will help you to:

• Understand the benefits: Discover how partnerships and consortia can enhance your organisation's position, resource access, and innovation potential.
• Identify the right partners: Learn effective strategies for identifying compatible partners that align with your goals and values.
• Managing expectations and risk: Gain valuable insights into the key elements of partnership and consortium agreements, including roles, responsibilities, and risk management.
• Building trust and collaboration: Explore practical tips for fostering strong working relationships and ensuring effective communication within your partnership or consortium.

This webinar is for you if:

• You are a BME charity or social enterprise interested in public sector procurement opportunities
• You are interested in building partnerships and consortiums
• You are based in England

Social enterprises that are unincorporated are also welcome to book, provided that they operate and register in England when they incorporate.

By social enterprise, we mean a diverse range of organisations including (but not limited to) Community Interest Companies (CIC), Community Benefit Society (CBS), Registered Charity, Cooperatives, and in some cases a Limited company.

Speakers include:

• Kunle Olulode MBE, Deputy Director at Voice4Change England (V4CE)
• Sharmin Shajahan PhD, Deputy Director at Voice4Change England (V4CE)

The VCSE Contract Readiness Programme
This programme is a partnership led by SSE and funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. SSE have teamed up with Social Enterprise UK and Voice4Change England to enable charities and social enterprises – otherwise known as voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSEs) – to compete alongside other organisations for public sector contracts. We share the aim of diversifying the government supply chains and delivering greater social value for public spending.

The government spends approximately £290 billion on goods and services each year². Charities and social enterprises play a vital role in delivering public services – and are uniquely placed to create social value.
This programme provides a real opportunity for charities and social enterprises to increase their impact.