A Renfrewshire charity manager has revealed how a community business development plan had a positive impact on the organisation.
Shopmobility Renfrewshire – based in Paisley – welcomed SNP MSP Tom Arthur, who is the Scottish Government minister for social enterprise and community enterprise, to its outlet.
The charity is a nationwide network of centres which hire out mobility equipment to the public.
This equipment is mainly manual wheelchairs, powerchairs and mobility scooters so people with restricted mobility can enjoy independence outdoors.
Shopmobility Renfrewshire had recently participated in Community Enterprise’s ‘Accelerate’ business development programme which has helped to develop the charity’s plans to operate a repairs service as a social enterprise.
This will mean that any income received from repairing people’s mobility scooters could be reinvested into the charity and help both maintain and improve services.
Karen Miller, office manager and funding officer for the Renfrewshire charity, insists the impact of the programme has been important.
She said: “It was an honour to host this partnership meeting with Community Enterprise and Tom Arthur.
“It gave us a chance to explain the impact of the ‘Accelerate’ programme on our plans to develop the charity as a social enterprise and contribute to community wealth building.
“It was a pleasure to meet Tom, who is also the constituency MSP for Renfrewshire South, to hear the plans that the Scottish Government has to promote not just social enterprise but also the wider community wealth building agenda.
“He took the time to outline the bigger political picture and to see for himself the work that we are doing within Shopmobility Renfrewshire.
“We were especially pleased to welcome Douglas Westwater as chair of Community Enterprise to thank him for the support we have received from his organisation and, in particular, from their consultant, Marcus Coetzee, who has been instrumental in keeping us focused on our development and has been a great support to us.”
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