Wessex Community Assets supports social enterprises that deliver projects in areas like renewable energy, sustainable food, and affordable housing. It established an organizational group including a charity and trading companies. Examples show enterprises in housing lending, renewable energy advice, and a workspace center. Social enterprises operate in the space between non-profits and traditional businesses, using trading to support social goals. AONB teams could partner with charitable land trusts to undertake additional projects and trading activities like woodland management. Trusts can set up subsidiaries, lease assets, and partner with community benefit societies to support local social economy organizations.

1. Social Enterprises as a mechanism
to deliver AONB projects
Tim Crabtree
Wessex Community Assets
&
Cardiff University

2. Wessex Community Assets
Small not for profit organisation which supports
the development of community and co-
operative enterprises:
• Renewable energy
• Sustainable food
• Affordable housing
• Cultural sector
• Workspace

3. Wessex Reinvestment Trust group
Established in 2001, the group has 4 separate
structures:
• Wessex Reinvestment Trust, a registered charity.
• WRT Core Company Limited, which provides home
improvement lending.
• Wessex Community Assets, which supports
community asset development.
• Wessex Reinvestment Society, has provided
business loans.

4. Examples of Wessex Reinvestment Trust
group activities 2010 - 2012
Renewable Workspace &
Housing Food
Wessex Core Energy Community
Company:
Home
Business advice , e.g.
Business advice , e.g.
Assets
Business advice , e.g.
Improvement The Real Food
Lending Bridport Energy
Store, Exeter Lyme Regis
Services Ltd:
Zero carbon food Development Trust
The Community
production
Farm, Bristol Red Brick Building
Housing Centre, Glastonbur
Somerset, Devon Partnership with
North Dorset Food y
& Dorset SW Protected
Incubator &
Community Land Landscapes
Training Network Enterprise St.
Trust Project Forum:
Social Forestry Michael’s, Bridport
Wessex Community Assets

5. What is social enterprise?
Social enterprise can be thought of as:
• a particular type of organisation (i.e. a business
with a primary social or environmental
aim, which returns any surplus to the community
which it serves)
or as:
• an activity carried out alongside the existing
programmes of community and voluntary sector
organisations (i.e. trading activity which either
meets the primary purpose of the organisation or
creates surpluses to fund services for the
community).

6. Common characteristics of social enterprise

7. Maximum Maximum
public benefit private benefit
The “grey area” in the middle of the spectrum
Charity Share company
is where social economy organisations
operate

8. High social return High financial return
Charities/vol orgs Revenue generating social Socially “Trad-
enterprises driven itional”
business business
No trading Trading Potentially Breakeven Profitable Profit Profit
revenue revenue & sustainable: – all – surplus distributing maximising
grants 50%+ revenue not – socially
trading from distributed driven/
revenue trading mutual
West Dorset Food & Land Local Food Links Waitrose
Trust
Dorset Farmers’ Markets Co-op Group
Dorset Food & Health
Somerset Local Food Direct Whole Food
Trust
Markets
Somerset Community
Food Projects Network Green & Blacks
(Cadburys)
Rachels Dairy

9. Is “social enterprise” relevant to
AONB’s?
• AONB’s have core teams delivering statutory
duties – conserving and enhancing protected
landscapes.
• Most AONB teams have also developed the
capacity to secure additional resources and
deliver projects, e.g.
– Woodland management
– Access / recreation
– Grassland management

10. So – AONB teams already have 2 key
resources which support delivery of
core functions and projects:
People Local
Core functions
& communities
projects
Grant Finance
Citizens

11. Some AONB’s have established (or are
considering) charitable trusts
• To secure grant funding & donations not available
to LA-hosted AONB teams
• To use such funds to deliver additional projects
• To receive transferred assets from public bodies
or bequests
• To acquire assets, using grants and loans
• To engage with the community
• To undertake “primary purpose” trading activity

12. Possible way forward
Social
enterprise
activity 1
AONB Team
Local Social
in Local
Authority
+ AONB Trust + enterprise
activity 2
Social
enterprise
activity n

13. Local communities
Joint
Subsidiary
venture
Projects Direct Support Lease
& trading IPS assets
Services
Social enterprise activity
AONB Team AONB Trust

14. Example of trust undertaking project
delivery and primary purpose trading
West Dorset Food and Land Trust
– Charity, established 1998

15. West Dorset Food Week & Bridport Food Festival

16. The local food sector in West Dorset:
Mapping exercise resulting in Directory

17. Grow it, Cook it, Eat it Project

18. Asset based development
• West Dorset Food & Land Trust a member of
the Development Trusts Association (now
Locality)
• Assets can generate income – e.g. building
rentals or land tenancies
• Decision to develop managed workspace – a
“Local Food Centre”

19. Bridport Centre for Local Food

20. Bridport Centre for Local Food

21. Bridport Centre for Local Food

22. Charities are restricted in the range of
trading that they can undertake so
may establish subsidiaries
Local Food Links
– Trading company, established as
subsidiary of West Dorset Food and
Land Trust in 1999

23. Farmers’ Markets

24. School Fruit Scheme

25. Soup Lunch Pilot

26. Soup Lunch Pilot

27. Other examples of Trusts setting up
trading subsidiaries

28. The Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust

30. Eigg Electric

31. Lyme Regis Development Trust
•St. Michael’s Business Centre
•Wessex secured £100,000 grant from ChangeUp,
provided £13,000 loan and negotiated £35,000
Programme Related Investment from Community
Foundation for Bournemouth, Dorset & Poole

32. Lyme Regis Development Trust
• New assets:
– Youth café with flat
– Youth centre
– Monmouth house – flats
• Supports project activity, e.g.
– Fossil Festival
• Developing proposals for £8 million Field
Studies Centre with Natural History Museum

33. Trusts do not have to run
operations themselves or
through subsidiaries
• Trusts can use their assets to support
social economy activity
– At a discounted rent, where the enterprise
delivers against the Trust’s objects
– At a market rent.

34. Local Food Links Ltd
• Restructured into a Community Benefit
Society (a form of Industrial & Provident
Society), with membership open to
parents, schools, wider community
• Previously, Local Food Links only had one
member – the Trust

36. New Central Kitchen at Centre for Local Food

42. Local Food Links: ethical
sourcing
• Meat – Genesis Farmers
• Milk – Coombe Farm
• Yogurt – Yeo Valley
• Butter – Denhay Farms & Coombe Farm
• Cheese – Denhay & Coombe Farm
• Flour – Edward Gallia, Cerne Abbas
• Eggs – Vurlands Farm
• Vegetables in season – Bothen Hill
Organic, Washingpool Farm, Somerset Organic
Link
• Fruit in season – Elwell Farm
• Bread – Leakers, Punch & Judy Bakery

43. Local Food Links – current
status
• Two hub kitchens – one leased from West
Dorset Food & Land Trust, one from
Dorset County Council
• 25 staff
• 24 schools, 3 nurseries, 1 day centre, 8
lunch clubs
• 1200 meals per day
• Turnover: over £500,000 p.a.

44. Hostetin Apple Juicing Plant, Czech Republic

46. Apple
Juicing Social
Apples
Enterprise
Runs
White Carpathians
Traditions
Leased to
Hostetin Apple
Small farms Juicing Plant
Raised funds
Veronica
Foundation

47. Trusts can enter into joint
ventures

48. Joint Venture:
Grameen –
Danone Yogurt
Business
Grameen-Danone Shoktidoi
yogurt factory in Bangladesh

49. Minority shareholder
Woodschool
Ltd
Majority shareholder
Real Wood Studios Ltd.,
a cooperative of wood workers

50. Trusts can lease assets to
private companies or social
enterprises

51. £1 million raised from community shares

52. Fordhall
Community Land Fordhall
Land Initiative: Farm Ltd:
lifetime
owns land and
public access
Rent tenancy
facilities

54. The Earth Trust
• Set up as the Northmoor Trust for Countryside
Conservation in 1967, with a large endowment
from Sir Martin and Audrey Wood
• Now own 1,200 acres of
farmland, woodland, nature reserves, research
plantation and wetland
• Also: management of three community
meadows, Thrupp Lake at Radley,
• 30 staff, 100 regular volunteers
• 750 regular supporters
• Around 30,000 people each year take part in Trust
activities annually

56. Cultivate

60. Trusts can link with
Community Benefit Societies
which then run social
enterprises

61. Tablehurst & Plaw Hatch
Community Farm
• Founded in 1995 following a community-led
campaign that raised over £150,000 to
purchase the stock and business assets of
Tablehurst Farm from Emerson College.
• Now 400 members of the IPS, each paying
£100 for their share.
• The land – 800 acres – is owned by a Trust.
• The Trust leases the land to the IPS.
• The IPS has 2 subsidiary trading businesses

62. Tablehurst & Plaw Hatch Community Farm

63. West Oxford Community
Renewables

64. Investors WOCR £ LCWO
Funds
Sustainable Living
Solar PV Reducing Local
energy food
bills projects
Hydro Low Reducing
carbon waste
travel
Wind Planting Sharing
Financial, trees resources
carbon
and social
return to Wood
investors
Green energy
IPS CHARITY

65. Helping communities raise local
finance through share issues & loans

66. £152,775 raised £105,000 raised

68. REAL FOOD EXETER:
Analysis of the share register on closure at 30 September 2010
Amount Subscribed Number of Totals at each
Subscribers Subscription Level
£100 157 £15,700
£200 47 £9,400
£500 36 £18,000
£1000 21 £21,000
£20,000 2 £40,000

75. The Community Farm
• In November 2010, the Community Farm
launched their community share offer inviting
members of the public to invest in a 22 acre
horticulture operation.
• By the end of March 2011, 409 people had
invested £126,000 in the Community Farm.
• This investment has enabled The Farm to
take over the established veg box
scheme, organic growing and wholesale
business of the Better Food Company.

77. £1,600,000 raised

78. Community share societies
Post Pre 2009
Share
Trade sector 2009 societie Members
capital
societies s
Renewable energy 59 13 9,642 £17,450,000
Community shops 37 9 4,472 £1,103,000
Community regeneration 15 9 3,668 £2,086,000
Food & farming 23 4 10,430 £1,199,000
Consumer co-operatives - 20 £191,275,00
8,553,000
0
Pubs and brewing 11 2 1,265 £1,343,000
Community finance 3 9 1.837 £2,114,000
Community land trusts 10 2 558 £35,000
Fair trade 2 1 9,222 £26,151,000
Other 16 9 38,367 £7,260,000

79. Members improve competitive advantage
Members roles How these roles improve competitive advantage
Investor Lower cost of capital; greater acceptance of risk
Customer Greater loyalty; accept higher prices & dividend
Service user Demonstrates support to funders; better feedback
Activist More engagement; better feedback; better targeting
Volunteer Lower labour costs; access to specialist skills
Suppliers Greater loyalty; lower input prices
Workers Greater loyalty; lower input prices; better feedback
Directors Access to specialist skills; lower input prices

80. Community Supported
Forestry
• WCA working with SW Protected Landscapes
Forum to explore the potential for community
engagement in woodland management.
• Would involve elements of the CSA and Care
Farming approaches
• West Dorset Woodfuel Co-op to be
establshed as IPS.
• In the long term could be share issue to
purchase woodland – Tamar AONB exploring
pilot

81. Local Food: Different forms of support
• Sector specific support, e.g. CSA’s
• Specialist Enterprise Support
• Advice on governance / legal
structures
Also:
• Dissemination / sharing learning
• Social franchising or licensing
• Spin offs

82. The Making Local Food Work programme Local Shops
Farmers’ Markets
Home Produced Food
Food Co-ops
& Buying Groups
CSA’s Supply & Distribution CSA’s
Consumption
Primary Retail/Food
Production Processing Distribution
Service
Enterprise Support
Food Mapping
Governance & Legal Structures
Local Food Systems

83. In-direct investment via intermediary organisations: the example of Making Local Food Work
Plunket:
community retail Social
SUSTAIN
Capital
Food co-ops
SUSTAIN
Food hubs Human
Capital
Soil Association: Reshaped Reshaped
CSA food operations food services
Investment:
Soil Association:
Buying groups
Physical
Grant from Capital
Big Lottery Co-ops UK:
Governance
FARMA: Natural
Farmers’ Markets
Capital
Country Markets:
Country Markets
CPRE: Financial
Food Webs Capital
Making Local Food Work
Programme

84. Other infrastructure support models
Locality
• 423 members in England
• Combined income of £325 million - £172
million earned income
• £660 million assets
• 5,500 staff
• 20,000 volunteers

86. Local communities
Citizens & Consumers
Primary
Projects production
Processing Distribution Retail
&
Services
Social enterprise activity
People People
Buildings & equipment
AONB Team
In Land & natural resources
Local authority
TRUST
Trading income
Grant Finance

87. Local communities
Citizens Consumers Investors
Primary
Projects production
Processing Distribution Retail
&
Services
Social enterprise activity
People
Buildings & equipment
Land & natural resources
Grant Finance Loan Finance Equity Finance

88. Some conclusions
• Trusts can be established as core asset holding
vehicle
• Can carry out primary purpose trading
• Can establish trading subsidiary
• Can lease assets to small businesses, coops or
social economy organisations
• Can explore joint ventures or
partnerships, e.g. with a Community Benefit
Society that engages the local community as
investors, consumers and volunteers

89. Contact:
Tim Crabtree
tim.crabtree@wessexca.co.uk
www.wessexca.co.uk