Rural SEN – 28 May 2025

The Rural Social Enterprise Network meeting held on 28th May 2025 focused on crisis support for social enterprises and communties. We are seeing more social enterprises asking for help as they face growing challenges, from cuts to funding and staff shortages, to rising costs and increasing demand for services. The recent Storm Eowyn had a Read more…

Social value from renewables in the Highlands and Islands

As more renewable energy projects are built, it’s important to make sure local communities are properly supported. The report ‘Social value from renewables in the Highlands and Islands’ by Equitable Energy Research looks at how communities in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland have gained from these renewables projects.   Support can come in different Read more…

Collective Leadership Learning Opportunity – Art of Hosting and Harvesting Training

  In this context of diminishing resources available to deliver the important work that is necessary for communities (both for third sector and public sector) there are increasing challenges and pressures. This can lead to frustration, burnout and also fall outs. In the context of increasing inequalities and impacts of climate issues now been more Read more…

Argyll & Bute Local Services Initiative (ABLSI) Report 2013

The Argyll & Bute Local Services Initiative (ABLSI) report, which was published in June 2013, highlights key lessons learned from the collaboration between the public sector and social enterprises in Argyll & Bute. The report greatly resonates with the challenges affecting rural communities across Scotland and the critical factors and recommendations have significance for service Read more…

Open The Door –Migration Policy Scotland’s Report on Migrants Facing Poverty

Migration Policy Scotland, worked along with GREC, CRRR, and TBL to conduct a study about the financial challenges among the migrant population around Scotland. The “Open the Door” a report which was published on 09th October 2024, begins by noting that migrants make up a significant and growing part of Scotland’s population. Between 2004 and 2022, Read more…

Feedback from Rural SEN Discussions – Tackling Depopulation in Rural Communities

Our most recent RuralSEN, held on 17th September 2024, focused on the critical topic of Tackling Depopulation in Rural Communities, bringing together 62 representatives from organisations across Scotland, including the Scottish Government. The event centred on discussions about current actions to address depopulation and future plans of organisations working in rural areas. This report captures Read more…

Rural SE Hub Stakeholder Report 2023-2024

The Rural Social Enterprise Stakeholder Engagement Report provides a thorough account of our project’s background, progress to date, and future priorities. This report is designed to inform stakeholders about the core objectives of the Rural Social Enterprise Hub, which include: Peer-to-Peer Learning and Knowledge Exchange: Facilitating collaboration and shared learning opportunities among stakeholders. Digital Networking Read more…

Co-working Hubs in Scotland – A Study on Adapting Ireland’s Co-Working Model for Scotland

Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) and University College Cork (UCC) carried out a study on remote working and co-working hubs in rural areas of Scotland and Ireland. They looked at how these hubs help rural communities and tackle the problem of people leaving these areas. The project was funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh and Read more…

Running Community Spaces – Social Enterprise Scotland Online Event

Join Social Enterprise Scotland’s Free Online Event for Social Enterprises Managing Community Spaces!   Social Enterprise Scotland is offering a fantastic free online event for social enterprises that manage community spaces. Whether you run a rural hall or an urban community centre, this event provides a great opportunity to connect, share ideas, and find inspiration. Read more…

Rural SEN – 17 September 2024

Our third Rural SEN session of 2024 was held on 17 September 2024, with a focus on tackling depopulation in rural communities. The first session of the Rural SEN was conducted by Thomas Fisher and Theona Morrison from Uist Beò and CoDel. They presented statistical data from the Outer Hebrides and Islands and discussed their Read more…

Unlocking Procurement – Introduction to the Scottish Construction Sector

Social Enterprise Scotland is hosting a promising online session for the social enterprises across the sector to better understand the how’s and why’s of the Scottish Construction Sector. This will benefit the social enterprises who are looking forward to exploring procurement opportunities locally and nationally across Scotland to learn how to effectively integrate into construction Read more…

Young People, Equalities and Poverty

About 240,000 children (24% of all children in Scotland), were estimated to have been living in poverty in 2020-2023 according to the Scotland’s official statistics on poverty and income inequality. The data suggests that children have a significantly higher risk of poverty than pensioners. Child poverty in Argyll and Bute, the second-largest council in Scotland, Read more…