Welsh Government
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Minister launches new organisation to champion Welsh Social Enterprise

Welsh Assembly Government Minister Leighton Andrews will launch the Welsh Social Enterprise Coalition (WSEC), a new organisation to champion and support the social enterprise sector in Wales.

The Minister will launch WSEC at the UK’s largest social enterprise conference, Voice 10, in Cardiff. This is the first time that the conference, which is sponsored by the Welsh Assembly Government and organised by the Social Enterprise Coalition UK, has been held outside England.

The WSEC will be made up of representatives of the social enterprise sector. Its remit will be to champion the sector’s values, promote social enterprise as an alternative business model, and to help the overall number of social enterprises in Wales to grow. The Welsh Assembly Government has provided start up funding of £700,000 over four years to give the coalition time to focus its energies on creating revenue streams to ensure long-term sustainability.

Mr Andrews said:

"The social enterprise sector in Wales plays a very important part in our Welsh economy. It is why today, in these times of economic turbulence I consider it vital that we have strong social enterprises in Wales and that they are equipped with the skilled workforces that will make them competitive and sustainable.

"At last we have one single organisation in Wales which will be able to represent the whole of the social enterprise sector and champion its values. The coalition will be made up of practitioners and support organisations from the sector in Wales, knowledgeable people with the best interests of the sector at heart. I am confident therefore that it will prove to be a very successful organisation, totally committed to helping the Social Enterprise movement in Wales to build on both our proud history and recent successes.

"I look forward to working with the coalition and wish it well in its work."

First Minister Carwyn Jones will also address the conference during the welcome reception this evening. He will tell delegates:

"I take great pleasure in welcoming the social enterprise sector to Cardiff and Wales. We have a thriving social enterprise sector and I am proud to be part of showcasing it to the rest of the UK.

"I would also like to express my congratulations on the establishment of the new Welsh Social Enterprise Coalition - an organisation set up by the sector to drive forward its messages of marrying enterprise with social and environmental objectives. I hope that this new organisation will raise awareness of this excellent business model within Wales and wish it every success for the future."

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