Investment boost for Scottish community businesses

Monday, 23 August 2004 12:00 AM

A new £18 million investment fund has been set up by the Scottish Executive to provide help for voluntary and community organisations with a commercial wing.

The fund - labelled Futurebuilders Scotland - is aimed at helping organisations become self-sufficient businesses.

The investment will be targeted specifically at operations which aim to close the "opportunity gap", regenerate communities and support young people.

Types of projects highlighted include an Edinburgh guesthouse that offers work opportunities to individuals with severe mental health problems and a Fife community organisation providing help for the long term jobless.

Launching the new fund, Communities Minister Margaret Curran said: "The sector plays a key role in closing the opportunity gap by giving people a chance to gain skills and experience if they have not been able to undertake regular or full time work. They can provide first class training opportunities, whether as a stepping stone to further employment or as a means of building confidence in people.

"Futurebuilders Scotland also builds on our investment in entrepreneurship and skills. It will aid those with vision and drive to develop, so that they can compete with conventional businesses.

"And I want to change the investment culture in the voluntary and community sector. I'm clear that this is not about handouts for failing businesses, or for giving one sector preference over another - it's about laying out a structure of support to drive forward progress, and about supporting those who really deliver on the ground.

"Social economy organisations are 'more than profit' organisations. They are run like businesses but invest their profits back in the communities they serve. By investing in these types of business, we are providing better public services whilst helping people gain confidence and helping communities improve the quality of their own lives."

Angiolina Foster, chief executive of Communities Scotland, which will administer the fund, said that the new money "ensures a focus on community regeneration and closing the opportunity gap which are key areas of the agency's responsibilities. By working closely with our area network the new unit will have a direct link to locally based social economy activity and to community planning partnerships."

Futurebuilders is likely to begin operation in October.

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