Big Society

The Government’s Big Society focus embraces many different areas in which ESF is already making a contribution and evolving in response to new ideas and opportunities. Tackling social exclusion and helping people on the path to employment and skills development are at the heart of ESF, which has supported countless charities, voluntary organisations, social enterprises, and community bodies over time.

This area of ESF’s work covers many different issues, including:

• voluntary and community organisations delivering ESF, exploiting the sectors’ specialist knowledge and reach into target communities
• social enterprise and ESF, with the fund investing in development of new socially motivated businesses and transitional jobs
• new forms of delivery, as innovation comes to public services
• the changing role of volunteering on the route to employment, opening up new opportunities for participants to gain experience and credibility to boost their CVs.

With so much change taking place in the welfare to work and employment landscape, the third sector’s importance will only grow over time. We are particularly interested in showcasing the work of ESF-funded organisations in the areas of:

• working with families with multiple and complex problems
• projects that deliver multiple benefits, such as employment development, local regeneration and carbon-use reduction
• maintaining outcomes, such as helping people stay in work or continue on the path to employment
• integrating work with volunteers into welfare to work provision
• the role of mentors working with offenders.

ESF and Localism: policy and practice workshop, 1 November 2011

The event took place at The Holiday Inn Kensington Forum Hotel in London, drawing around 40 participants from Innovation, Transnationality and Mainstreaming's (ITM’s) portfolio of projects, along with representatives from the Cabinet Office, department for Work and Pensions (DWP), department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), Ministry of Justice (MOJ), Social Enterprise UK, and the Environment Agency.

The agenda included policy briefings from the Cabinet Office’s Steve Wallace, responsible for the big society; and DCLG’s Mark Davis, responsible for localism, on the localism agenda and how it is progressing. Guest presentations and summary report are available to download.

Creating and Sustaining Social Enterprise: ESF ITM policy and practice workshop, 1 November 2011

With Social Enterprise (SE) high on the Government’s agenda as a key element of its Big Society and localism goals, this report presents experience and learning from a workshop organised to showcase direct practical experience from ESF’s Innovation, Transnationality and Mainstreaming programme, and to interact with national policy makers involved in delivering on the Government’s priorities. The summary report is available to download.

We are always looking for project and practice examples with compelling, well-evidenced stories to tell and practice to share. Contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you’d like to talk to us about showcasing your work that fits the Big Society agenda.