The first ever ‘Summer School’ for the West Midlands’ booming social enterprise sector has been launched.

Organised by Social Enterprise West Midlands (SEWM), the two-day residential business development progamme has been tailored to ensure up to 40 senior-level delegates can gain access to specialist skills such as marketing, raising finance, managing growth and leading change.

A combination of interactive seminars and keynote addresses will be delivered by some of the UK’s most influential personalities when the event takes place September 29 and 30 at the Woodland Grange Conference Centre, in Leamington Spa, all geared towards boosting the fortunes of a sector that now employs more than 155,000 people and generates £5.6bn for the West Midlands economy.

The Summer School, which is part of the Capacitybuilders-funded Trading Know-How Programme, will directly respond to research undertaken by Advantage West Midlands that shows more than 60 per cent of respondents needs access to finance and 34 per cent and 32 per cent require marketing and business planning advice respectively.

It also revealed a genuine need to be more entrepreneurial and pinpointed the advantages of increasing new revenue streams, which could involve securing an increasing number of public sector contracts.

Kevin Maton, Network Director of Social Enterprise West Midlands, is delighted at the launch of the new initiative.

He said: “We now have more than 5500 social enterprises operating in the region and this is growing by the day, despite the economic climate and current uncertainty shrouding most industries.

“In addition to 150,000+ direct jobs, it also supports in excess of 210,000 volunteering placements, with the primary aim being to provide services or facilities to the local community.

“Increasingly more people are entering the sector, either straight away from university, through career changes or even from the private sector as they are inspired by the ethical approach.

“This is why the Summer School is such a great idea. The residential will utilise a wide range of delivery methods including master classes, specialist practitioner inputs, action learning sets, mentoring and business exchanges.

“The project has also been developed to maximise the growth of some already very successful businesses and many people attending will be encouraged to grow even bigger, create more jobs and even launch new social enterprises.”

There are spaces for 40 delegates, with places available for a subsidised cost of just £200 per person.

This will secure audiences with The Phone Co-op’s Vivian Woodell, Blue Rocket’s Kim Stoddart, Stand Crawford (Sherwood Energy Village) and Will Nixon from PM Training in Stoke-on-Trent. There will also be people management, including leadership, change, emotional intelligence and goal setting sessions. Mr Maton added: “The challenge is to make sure we continue to evolve and develop business support and, if we can get this right, I see no reason why we can’t increase our value to the local economy.”

To reserve your place, complete a booking form and return to SEWM. The form is available to download at www.socialenterprisewm.org.uk/news-events/summerschool/default.aspx