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Voluntary and Community organisations increasingly seek to establish business ventures to supplement the grants and donations that finance their social causes. Many of these projects, however, do not get past the idea stage and some that do, end up failing because of inadequate management skills. CDSE provides specialist advice and training to voluntary and community organisations and social entrepreneurs to increase their success rate.

We work with pre-starts, start-ups, and existing social enterprises to gain an understanding of the economic realities of their ventures, help them become aware of possible conflicts with their core mission, and support them to attract start-up or growth funds. We also undertake surveys on social enterprise activity within prescribed boundaries, to inform policy and strategy development.

CDSE is among the few organisations that have taken an active interest in researching and developing strategies for social enterprise development among voluntary and community organisations. This has gained us the recognition across the UK, especially in London. It is a recognition that has given us a competitive edge in this brave new world of social enterprise.

Examples of our work in this area are:

• Islington Council
  
• Olmec
  
• Enfield Community Empowerment Network
  
• Fullemploy
  
• Minority Infrastructure Support
  
• Hackney Council for Voluntary Service
  
• Voluntary Action Lewisham.