Social Firms UK

25-th Anniversary Annual European Conference of Social Firms Europe, CEFEC 2012

on “Social Economy, Trend or Reality” to be held in Suceava, Romania, from September 20th to September 22nd 2012, in “Stefan cel Mare” Conference Room within the Administrative Palace of Suceava, Romania

 “To change is difficult. Not to change is fatal.” Anon

We have gathered together a group of exciting presenters, experts in a number of areas relevant to the changing environment for social enterprise.

Mark Cook—Partner—Anthony Collins Solicitors Mark will be explaining the implications of the new social value bill and how organisations need to prepare to take advantage of this.

Jean Jarvis MBE—CEO—Shropshire Furniture Project Jean has recently been nominated for Social Entrepreneur of the Year and is going to share with us her experience in running a complicated social enterprise in the current climate.

Geof Cox—Freelance Consultant Geof is a very experienced advocate and developer within the social enterprise movement and he will be supporting organisations to understand how they might change and grow in this new environment.

  Acas has launched its first guide to tackle the last taboo in business - mental illness at work. Are you unsure how to handle this situation in your workplace?

You won’t be alone as it’s a fast-growing problem, particularly with workers becoming increasingly concerned about their futures in the economic downturn. Costs to employers in London are an estimated £707million every year in lost production and replacing staff who leave because of mental ill-health. Costs to Britain are around £30 billion.

Mental health experts say that at any one time one worker in six will be experiencing depression, anxiety or stress problems. That works out at around 683,333 of the estimated 4.1 million employees in London.

But they calculate that employers in the area should be able to cut the cost by about a third by improving their management of mental health at work.

This crucial event brings together Central Government departments and pioneering frontline practitioners at the cutting edge of designing, delivering and piloting the new system of outcome-based commissioning set to transform the way the public sector deliver services.

Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from local areas already trialling new financial incentive models including Social Impact Bonds, Payment by Results contracts, the Innovation Fund and Community Budgets.

Attend to learn how driving forward Payment by Results initiatives is vital to deliver innovative solutions to social and environmental issues and significantly reduce costs to the public purse.