Online webinars for social enterprises
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**A series of five free online webinars to help social enterprises in Devon, Plymouth and Torbay will get underway later this month (November).**

“Start Up to Scale Up” will feature five webinars aimed at individual social entrepreneurs looking to set up a social enterprise for social, cultural or environmental benefit and existing social enterprises that want to grow or consolidate their achievements.

Run by Devon Communities Together, and supported by Heart of the South West Growth Hub and Devon County Council, the first session will take place online on Tuesday 24 November from 11am to 1pm.

This initial session, called “Mapping the Landscape”, will look at the rise of social enterprises in the region and explore their characteristics.

Those who join the webinar will see a range of approaches that social entrepreneurs can take and consider which type of business model might be best for their current or future enterprise.

The session will be led by Hannah Reynolds, who has been involved in developing social enterprises for over twenty years. She was the first Director of Learning for the national School for Social Entrepreneurs, setting up learning and support programmes for social entrepreneurs in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

> Councillor Simon Clist, Cabinet Member for Assets and Resources, said:
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> “There are currently around 11,500 social enterprises in the South West. We want them to thrive and in today’s challenging economic conditions it’s vital that these organisations are supported.
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> “This series of online webinars aims to help those in the social enterprise sector to develop knowledge and skills. They will also be able to find out about business support that may be available.
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> “There will be the opportunity to feedback on what topics people would like covered in future sessions and to say what you need most support with.”

  ![Councillor Simon Clist](https://democracy.devon.gov.uk/UserData/3/7/5/Info00011573/bigpic.jpg)  [Councillor Simon Clist, Cabinet Member for Assets and Resources](https://democracy.devon.gov.uk/mgUserInfo.aspx?UID=11573)

**Nora Corkery, CEO, Devon Communities Together, added:** ” Devon Communities Together has a long history of supporting rural social enterprises that are not only vital to the rural and coastal economy but also provide important services to Devon’s communities. It’s exciting to be able to deliver these five webinars thanks to investment from Devon County Council. We hope they are the starting point for a greater package of support for Devon’s rural social enterprise sector.”

The next four webinars will take place from January to March 2027.

You can book your place on [the first webinar via Eventbrite](https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/from-start-up-to-scale-up-supporting-social-enterprise-development-tickets-2003399653293).