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Credit Unions are financial co-operatives established
to help people save and borrow money. Members of a
Credit Union save in a common fund. As well as being
a good savings option, with successful Credit Unions
paying an annual dividend of up to 8%, the money saved
can be used to make low interest loans to members
(interest is fixed by law to no more than 1% per month).
Birmingham has a vibrant Credit Union Network and
they are supported by Birmingham Credit Union Development
Agency (BCUDA). bcuda_uk@yahoo.com
Co-operatives are organised by and for their members,
who come together to provide a shared service from
which they all benefit. They operate in many fields.
The best known co-operatives belong to the traditional
consumer co-operative sector, which includes retailing,
banking, insurance, travel and funeral services. While
the traditional cooperatives are undergoing a period
of internal renewal and new growth, new types of cooperatives
are also developing in the UK. In Birmingham, these
include Self-Build cooperatives, care cooperatives,
childcare cooperatives, food cooperatives and IT cooperatives
Development Trusts operate as umbrella organisations
under which different regeneration activities take
place. Their boards include representatives of key
stakeholders, e.g. local community representatives,
local business people, and representatives of community
organisations. Two fine examples of development trusts
in Birmingham can be found at ST. Peter's Urban Village:
johnnewing@aol.com
and Moseley Development Trust: tonythrapar@hotmail.com
A Community Business is a trading organisation which
is set up, owned and controlled by the local community
and communities of interest. They aim to be a focus
for local development and ultimately create self-supporting
jobs for local people. There are over 200 community
businesses trading in Birmingham in sectors such as
manufacturing, retail, childcare, health and social
care, IT and multimedia and building maintenance and
landscaping. Look at our Social
Enterprise Directory for more information.
A Social Firm is a business created for the employment
of people with a disability or other disadvantage
in the labour market. It is a business which uses
its market- oriented production of goods and services
to pursue its social mission. These firms are tackling
new sectors such as ICT and Tourism instead of the
traditional sectors for disabled people (assembly,
furniture work etc.). There are 49 social firms trading
in the West Midlands, for further information www.socialfirms.co.uk
and www.inst.co.uk
Intermediate Labour Market (ILM) projects provide
training and work experience for the long-term unemployed.
Some ILMs are independent companies, others are projects
incorporated into the structure of other organisations,
such as Development Trusts and Community Businesses.
The work experience is a stepping-stone to obtaining
permanent employment. ILM projects hire participants
for periods of six months to a year and provide individuals
with work experience. The aim is to assist the long-term
unemployed to re-enter the labour market. The heart
of an ILM is the provision of paid work together with
high quality training, personal development and active
job seeking. Over the last twelve months 12 ILM businesses
have set up, in Birmingham, with start up costs provided
by a successful European bid.
In pursuit of their aims, some charities establish
trading arms. The trading arm (subsidiary) sells goods
or services to generate profit to support the charity
and to further the aims of the charity.
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