Giving social enterprises a helping hand

Enterprise: Making it Work for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Women recommends: creating resources to signpost women to key sources of advice and funding developing a bank of case studies of BAME women social entrepreneurs identifying ways to disseminate information on social enterprises to BAME women considering how women’s centres and children’s centres could provide a space for BAME women together to share their experiences and create their own networks conducting further research into the needs of BAME women wanting to set up social enterprises to build a better picture across the country.

Helping more BAME women start up social enterprises enables many groups of ethnic minority women, such as Pakistani and Bangladeshi women, who are under represented in the workplace and in society, to become more economically independent. It can also significantly enhance their role in the local community.

The cleaning service set up by Shamim Hossain demonstrates how social enterprise can have a positive impact on a local community. Shamim set up Community Cleaning Services as a social enterprise to tackle the social exclusion of Muslim women in Tower Hamlets. The company’s approach is to employ ‘hard to reach’ women, such as lone parents, disabled women and women who can’t speak English.

The women are trained to become professional cleaners. They have staff away days and network with other women’s groups to encourage social integration. Today the company employs 14 Bangladeshi Muslim women and enables many more women to enter the workplace.

There are a number of excellent examples of BAME women who have successfully set up a social enterprise, yet evidence suggests that BAME women are underrepresented as social enterprise owners. Encouraging enterprising women from BAME communities to connect with social enterprise is an absolute priority, and I encourage local authorities to support this work. BAME women can have a better understanding of the issues facing their communities than anyone else, so supporting them to start up a social enterprise has great potential to help improve those communities.

Croydon LBC played a key role in supporting a now thriving community service in South London. Fourteen years ago PJs Community Services Ltd started out delivering home care and home shopping services to vulnerable adults, older residents and the housebound.

Today the business employs 80 staff – predominately women. As well as continuing to provide home care, it has invested in a new centre, which houses five recording studios and hosts community projects, a nursery and other business organisations. Claudine Reid, who runs the service, describes the advice, encouragement and support from Croydon LBC as invaluable.

A new report recently published by the Government Equalities Office highlights a number of barriers that prevent BAME women from entering social enterprise. Lack of knowledge of business development and how to apply for and secure funding are just two reasons. There is also a risk that cultural stereotyping within and outside communities could hold back the participation of BAME women in business and wider society.

We want to develop practical measures to increase the representation of BAME women in their communities.

We all need to do more to create the conditions to help social enterprises thrive and grow in our communities. I look forward to working with local authorities and agencies to shape services that will overcome the barriers BAME women face.

The report Enterprise: Making it Work for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Women can be found here. 

Barbara Follett is equalities minister