One-stop centre to provide resources for social enterprises to be launched
SINGAPORE -— A new one-stop centre to help social enterprises take off and grow by providing continuous support through mentoring and a ready pool of resources will be launched in the second quarter of this year.
The centre, a joint initiative led by four key agencies in the social sector, will support social enterprise startups through funding, networking and consultancy services from the initial stages and beyond.
The main bodies working to set up the centre are the Social Enterprise Association (SEA), the Singapore Totalisator Board (Tote Board), National Council of Social Services and the Ministry of Social and Family Development.
The new centre will take over the function of the SEA — an umbrella organisation supporting social enterprises here with 279 member social enterprises currently under its wing.
Minister for Social and Family Development Chan Chun Sing said today (Jan 14) at a networking lunch with social entrepreneurs that the consolidation of resources will encourage more to set up social enterprises.
“If we have more social enterprises, it means we can do more good for the disadvantaged group in a more sustainable way,” he said.
Mr Chan added that it was important for Singapore to have a vibrant social enterprise sector because “social enterprises do not just give (to the community), but look for the abilities among the disadvantaged and see how they can match those abilities with a working model.”
The minister also said that building a social enterprise was, in some ways, more difficult than starting a conventional business and, therefore, the sector should be given as much support as possible.
SEA executive director Alfie Othman said many social enterprises are proving that businesses with a social mission can also be profitable. “They are pushing forward to show that their product is as important as their social mission.”
Ms Pamella Chng, 38, founded a social enterprise three years ago called Bettr Barista Coffee Academy, which provides coffee-making skills to underprivileged women. She said a centralised knowledge base would be very useful in helping social entrepreneurs kick-start their businesses.
“If we have a database (of contacts) we can tap, it would remove the burden of sourcing. For example, if we have already identified which corporations we can partner with for support, or which charities we can help... it would save a lot of time.”
Mr Peter Yang, 34, who is an executive director at Empact — an organisation that connects individual and corporate volunteers with social enterprises and NGOs — said a consolidation of resources such as the one-stop centre would “reduce gaps of information, making the sector more efficient.”
