A group of South Lanarkshire employers are celebrating completing South Lanarkshire Council’s new Social Enterprise Accelerator Pilot as well as their ongoing commitment to fair pay by each being accredited Living Wage employers.
The real Living Wage, currently £10.90, is the only UK wage rate calculated according to the costs of living. Employers choose to pay the real Living Wage on a voluntary basis, recognising the value of their workers and ensuring that a hard day’s work receives a fair day’s pay. Living Wage accreditation is a formal commitment by employers to adopt the real Living Wage as their base pay scale therefore ensuring their staff receive a rate of pay which meets the cost of living.
The Social Enterprise Accelerator Pilot, funded by South Lanarkshire Council and delivered by Inspirent, supported 15 social enterprises through the 9-week training programme in which the organisations were provided with access to specialist business support to help them build and flourish with a resilient and profitable business. As well as helping them identify challenges and allowing them to benefit from peer-to-peer support with like-minded participants.
David Booth, Executive Director of Community & Enterprise Resources at South Lanarkshire Council, added: “South Lanarkshire Council commits to the real Living Wage (rLW) scheme to support the number of employees in South Lanarkshire who receive the rLW.
Social Enterprises are key local employers, and the Council is keen to support this Sector attract new workers and skills through rLW, enabling local people to earn a decent income and a decent standard of living”.
Keep reading to hear more from these inspirational enterprises.
Healthy Valleys
Healthy Valleys is a charity dedicated to reducing health inequalities in rural South Lanarkshire through the provision of outstanding local services that help improve the physical and mental health of individuals, families, and communities. They recently took part in the Social Enterprise Accelerator, and this has supported them to launch their first social enterprise “Gear Up, Empowering Communities Through Cycling”.
Jane Masters, Business Development Worker at Healthy Valleys told us:
“As a Living Wage Accredited employer, Healthy Valleys recognises the valuable work undertaken by our staff in supporting communities and the importance of supporting our staff in turn”.
OutLET
OutLET is a game-changing social enterprise transforming the lives of children and young people who struggle to thrive in traditional education settings. With a range of group and individual outdoor programs, we offer a unique and empowering experience for those facing challenges which give them tools to succeed in life.
Jackie Simpson, Founder at OutLET
“I knew right from the start that I wanted OutLET to be a good employer, one that values its staff, pays fairly and is a place where people want to work. Becoming an accredited living wage employer was the first step on this and one that I’m very proud to say that we achieved in our first year. It’s great to know what we are working within a local authority that not only values Living Wage employers, but actively supports Social Enterprise through programmes like the Accelerator. Becoming part of a network of social enterprises has been invaluable in support OutLET and our development.
Care and Repair Lanarkshire
Care and Repair Lanarkshire’s mission is to enable people living in Lanarkshire to continue to live at home in a safe and secure environment for as long as possible. We do this by identifying projects that will assist clients that are not available from other sources. Care and Repair Lanarkshire became an accredited Living Wage employer after gaining a staff member through the Kickstart scheme. Seeing how this staff member developed into a valued member of the team management wanted to ensure he was being paid a fair salary for the work he does.
Jamie Burgess, Manager, Care and Repair Lanarkshire told us:
“I was also recently fortunate to be selected to participate in the South Lanarkshire Councils Social Enterprise Accelerator – hosted by Inspirent, it allowed participants to share best practice and learn from subject specific experts. I came away from every 121 session after each module with new projects and ideas to try. I would fully recommend to any future participants”.
East Kilbride Credit Union
East Kilbride Credit Union has been providing financial services to the people of East Kilbride and surrounding areas for over 40 years. We are people helping people and are run by a close-knit group of volunteer Directors and a staff team who serve the local community for all their saving and borrowing needs.
Louise Smith, Operations Manager, told us:
“At East Kilbride Credit Union, we are proud to be an accredited Living Wage employer. We are a community-based credit union so it’s great for our members to see that the team is paid fairly, this also builds trust in our brand.
The Accelerator course opened my eyes to different ways of working and how unique third sector businesses really are! I learned so much throughout and have been using all that I have learned in my daily life, especially the marketing and social media. Since completing the Accelerator, I have recently been promoted to Operations Manager, I look forward to continuing using my newly learned skills.”
Community Links
Community Links is a Lanarkshire-based Community Anchor organisation, established in 2002, with a proven track record and passion for working with, encouraging, and supporting communities to co-produce sustainable and meaningful involvement, participation, and community-owned change. They were an early adopter of the real Living Wage being accredited since 2017.
Iain Macdonald, IT Officer,
“Accreditation with Living Wage Scotland demonstrates our commitment to the principles of social justice, equality, and positive mental health and wellbeing. As an anchor organisation, we also feel an obligation to set an example to other employers locally and prove that together we can contribute to both local economic growth and positive social change.
As one of the organisations invited to participate in the Accelerator Pilot, delivered by Inspirent, we would encourage any third-sector organisation or social enterprise to investigate the programme.
Where many courses are never fully relevant to your own organisation, this isn’t the case with Accelerator. Its very design ensures its relevance.”
South Lanarkshire Council are shortly going out to Tender for additional Social Enterprise Accelerator courses. Please contact yvonne@southlanarkshire.gov.uk for more information.
If reading these employers’ experiences has inspired you to think about becoming an accredited Living Wage employer yourself you can find more information at www.scottishlivingwage.org or by contacting rachel.morrison-mccormick@povertyalliance.org.
South Lanarkshire Council are currently offering a discount scheme offering a 50% reduction off your first year’s accreditation fee for organisations who uplift staff to the real Living Wage as part of their accreditation