Our Aims – Why we decided to go for this
We want to see Keighley thrive by:
- Building awareness of social enterprise
- Get consumers, local businesses and the public sector ‘Buying Social and Buying Local’
- Attract new finance and funding into Keighley for social good
What this means for the Keighley Community
Even if you don’t see a direct benefit of a thriving social enterprise movement in Keighley you are likely to see indirect benefits as everyone benefits.
The social enterprise sector is a growing movement of people involved in developing stronger local economies, creating jobs, creating local wealth and assets, improving the quality of life, and helping people work together for mutual benefit rather than private profit.
This includes:
- Offering services that are currently unavailable or too expensive for the local community to use.
- Providing education, training and employment opportunities for people who are disadvantaged in the labour market.
- Improving the local environment.
- Providing social care or other welfare services that improve the quality of life of their users.
Who else has done this?
We’ve been learning from other social enterprise places about why they turned to social enterprise and what they have achieved:
Alston Moor was first awarded the Social Enterprise Town status and is currently one of only 6 towns to achieve this status. We want Keighley to be the next.
Alston Moor is in Cumbria based around the small town of Alston. The parish/ward had a population of 2,088 at the 2011 census.
Alston Moor had 20 social enterprises which had a £1.5m contribution to the economy; and provided jobs to 60 people when they applied to be a social enterprise town.
In Alston Moor, the status has raised the town’s profile and, according to the social enterprise leaders there, it has been good for morale amongst local businesses and the community at large. It has also attracted visitors from as close as Liverpool and as far afield as China, Spain, Sweden and Taiwan.
Find out more about Alston Moor Social Enterprise Town here.
What chance has Keighley got?
You may be surprised to learn that Keighley has a thriving social enterprise and social purpose movement happening and we strongly believe that we can gain this status and put Keighley on the national map.
There are lots of amazing people and organisations who believe in making Keighley a better place for everyone, here are just a few organisations making this happen:
Missing Piece Wellbeing Support CIC
Responsible Timber Company CIC
You can read more about them by clicking the name and visiting our website.
How can you support this?
It’s a very simple task, all we would like you to do is follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn. This will show how much the town is invested in making Keighley a better place.
From there you can keep an eye on our progress and if you want to share our posts as well that would be great.
Are you a social enterprise or socially responsible business?
You can add your organisation to our website by visiting here – https://keighleyset.co.uk/add-your-social-enterprise/
Support Us
Find a Social Enterprise
If you are looking to shop more ethically or sustainably or want to keep what you spend in the local community take a look here at the amazing organisations in and around Keighley.
Support the campaign
Help support not only the campaign to make Keighley a social enterprise town but also show your support for the people who are making a difference in Keighley.
Add your social enterprise
Do you run a social enterprise or a business that gives back to the community in or around Keighley? Click here to add your organisation to the growing movement.