REconomy... and community-led economic development

There are several projects out there promoting 'community-led economic change':
Futures Forum: The New Economy in 20 Enterprises report released 
Futures Forum: Localism and local prosperity
Futures Forum: Totnes REconomy Project ... and Atmos Totnes
Futures Forum: The Real Economy Lab
Futures Forum: "New Local Economies": more on all day event in Exeter: Saturday 7th February
Futures Forum: Localising Prosperity >>> by mainstreaming community economic development
Futures Forum: "Small plus small plus small equals big" >>> 'There is a blind spot about economic regeneration in most local authorities'
Futures Forum: The Local Entrepreneur Forum
Futures Forum: Redeveloping East Devon >>> the alternatives to a heavy-handed approach
Futures Forum: The sharing economy: the shareconomy: collaborative consumption >>> renting or borrowing rather than buying and owning

One project in particular is REconomy:
REconomy
Why mainstream community economic development? Because it works. : REconomy

They've just produced their first newsletter:

Hello. Welcome to the to the first UK REconomy newsletter! The UK REconomy pilot project was launched by Transition Network in 2013 with the support of Friends Provident Foundation and Polden-Puckham Charitable Foundation.   This project set out to help communities transform their local economies, supporting them to become resilient, more sustainable and focused on equality and wellbeing. We have been busy developing resources, working with Reconomy initiatives on their events, and developing REconomy Hubs in Totnes and Brixton with our local partners. This newsletter aims to share learning,  tools  and information discovered along our journey.  We hope it will help connect people working on different REconomy projects and initiatives across the UK. We hope you find the newsletter interesting and useful.  We are keen for this to be a collaborative space and would really love to hear your comments.   If you have any ideas for future newsletter themes, features or other content please let us know. Best wishes, Laura Outhart, UK REconomy Project Manager **LAUNCH: Introducing our new fundraising database!** REconomy Funding & Investment Database We’ve scoured the fundraising landscape in the UK to pull together 280 different grants, equity programmes and other platforms open to REconomy style enterprises and projects.    The world of fundraising moves pretty fast, so we plan to launch edition two later in the year.  Please feel free to pass the link to any enterprises or groups you think might be interested.  Click here now to explore it! Get your Free Guide Today Transition DIY  Want help running an event or setting up an enterprises?  Our REconomy guides are packed full of tips, advice and easy to use resources.  Download your FREE copies here. 15 minutes with Jay Tompt Jay Tompt: social entrepreneur, activist, community leader based in Totnes, one of the originators of the Local Entrepreneur Forum, manager of the REconomy Centre in Totnes. Originally from California but now a proud Devonian. Read more about Jay and the LEF > With each newsletter we'll bring you a detailed interview with one of our inspirational leaders or participants of the REconomy Project. REconomy On The Road: Our report from Wigan Pier  On a wet and windy day in early February, the energetic Billinge and Orrell in Transition Group invited over 100 community leaders, members and to take part in the first REconomy North West event.  Close to the site of George Orwell’s bleak social investigation The Road to Wigan Pier, the aim of the day was to explore the idea of the Northern Powerhouse.  What is its purpose? What’s our response? And, in this context how can communities & grassroots projects inspire collective action & build local economic resilience? Read more..... Would you like funding to host a REconomy Event in your area? We have three events packages up for grabs. Email us now for more info! As you start out on your enterprising journey we provide insights and tips on places for Support, Funding and Finance. By Mark Simmonds, REconomy Enterprise Advisor As the REconomy project launches its database of funds appropriate for Transition Enterprise, we are seeing an explosion in new support available for community enterprise. New support programmes Power to Change are launching their biggest round of funding to date on April 26th. Their Community Business Fund will be offering grants of between £50K and £300K. http://www.thepowertochange.org.uk Power to Change are about to launch their Community Shares Booster programme: If your enterprise is expecting to launch a community share offer by the end of this year, then this might be for you. http://communityshares.org.uk/find-out-more/guidance-enterprises See more exciting options in Mark's blog here Crowdfunding We continue to see the growth in crowdfunding for social enterprise. Find an overview here. NESTA are also hosting a more up to date directory of crowdfunding site here.  One particularly interesting development from a CED perspective is the rise of locally based crowdfunding initiatives, that facilitate place based crowdfunding.  A good example of this is Crowdfund Bristol initiative, that has raised nearly £400,000 for 93 local projects! Check out Mark's blog on Reconomy.org for a fuller overview of the support, funding and finance environment. [insert URL] Impact Hub Brixton http://brixton.impacthub.net Impact Hub Brixton is a learning community for entrepreneurs, freelancers and activists. The Hub itself and its members share a mission of making Lambeth and beyond a better place to live and work.  Impact Hub started 10 years ago, when co-working was an unknown concept. A group of activists and entrepreneurs realised they were uninspired when working on their own. A small team took a leaky warehouse in Angel and transformed it into an inspiring space, with learning events and community connectors. Today, over 80 Impact Hubs around the world are home to 11,000 purpose-driven members – from Bogota to Baltimore, Singapore to Stockholm.  Each Impact Hub is locally founded and governed – and is designed with local people. Impact Hub Brixton are starting to explore new models of operating to explore the ideas of co-creating society. Read more from Impact Hub Birmingham's project here.  The Hub in Brixton are asking the following questions: How do we move to a place of shared mission and shared funding? How do we move towards systemic change that is inclusive of all - whether that's  childcare, food, education, the justice system, wellbeing, allowing society to move away from burnt out 'heropreneurs' and silver bullet solutions? How do we excite funders large and small  to get behind large-scale programmes that convene multiple actors to create a wellbeing society say, or a 21st century education system? How do we change the whole system – whether that's the regulatory environment, the business models, the physical infrastructure, the language, the stories we tell ourselves?  In Lambeth, they're exploring these questions through a process known as U.Lab. Read about the latest course here – it's all about the food system.

REconomy Newsletter
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