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Research ProjectExamination of Social Enterprises in Ballyhoura

Region

CONTENT

I. Table of contents..........................................................................................3Acknowledgements:.....................................................................................5

II. Introduction.................................................................................................6III. Literature review........................................................................................10IV. Methodology..............................................................................................17V. Socio-economic profile of Ballyhoura area................................................20VI. Results and discussion................................................................................23

1. Social Enterprise Lough Gur.........................................................231.1. Background and history .........................................................231.2. Goals and objective of Lough Gur..........................................241.3. Resources within Lough Gur...................................................251.4. Volunteers................................................................................261.5. Networks..................................................................................271.6. Analysis through SPSS............................................................28

2. Social Enterprise Croom.................................................................502.1. Background and history...........................................................502.2. Goals and objective..................................................................512.3. Resources.................................................................................52

2.3.1. Revenue stream.............................................................522.3.2. Public sector..................................................................52

2.4. Volunteers ................................................................................522.5. Networks..................................................................................532.6. Main results in contingency tables (SPSS)...............................54

VII. Conclusion and recommendation ..................................................66VIII. References......................................................................................68IX. Appendixes................................................................................................70

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I. Table of contents

Figure 1- The evolution of the tourism in Ireland ..................................................8Figure 2- Population in the rural district of Croom................................................9Figure 3 - Ordnance Survey Map of Ballyhoura region........................................20Figure 4-Ordnance Survey Map of Croom............................................................21Figure 5- Ordnance Survey Map of Lough Gur....................................................22Bar chart 1- Relation between gender and age......................................................29Bar chart 2- Which category below best represent your highest level of education achieved...............................................................30Pie chart 3- Which of the categories below corresponds to your weekly earning...................................................................................31Pie chart 4- Have you ever use the service............................................................31Table 1- If you have used the service , please rate as............................................32Table 2- Crosstable of contingency and relationships between the use of the services and the hearing in the social enterprises Lough Gur............................................................................32Bar chart 5- Have you ever used the service.........................................................33Bar chart 6- In your opinion is there a lack of awareness of the social enterprise in the area.....................................................33Table 3- Crosstable of contingency and relationships between the understanding of social enterprise and what does it need to provide good service..............................................................34Bar chart 7- What is a social enterprise.................................................................35Table 4- Community engagement with the service...............................................35Table 5- Cross table of the relationship between egagement and appreciation of the community........................................................36Bar chart 8- Do you feel the community engage with the service sufficiently.....36Table 6- Crosstable and relation among : do you believe that the service is good value for money and should receive more government funding the service provider..............37Bar chart 9- Do you believe that the service is good value for money.................38Table 7- Crosstable of contingency and relationships between the variables gender and age in employee Lough Gur............................38Bar chart 10- Employees: Gender and age i Lough Gur......................................39Table 8- Crosstable of contingency and relationships between the variables age and domestic situation in the employees in the social enterprises Lough Gur......................................39Bar chart 11- Domestic situation..........................................................................40Bar chart 12- Gender and worker’s attitude.....................................................41Bar chart 13- Relation between gender and education.....................................42

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Table 9- Table of contingency about the way the workforce arrive in Lough Gur social enterprise...................................................43Bar Chart 14- Employees: Age and Employability............................................44Table 10- Crosstable results among the variables level of education and training provided by Lough Gur social enterprise.......45Table.11- Type of integration scheme/measure does/did Lough Gur social enterprise provide for this worker.......................................45Table 12 -Board Manager’s Questionnaires.......................................................46Bar chart 15- Attittude of board of management on different aspects................48Bar chart 16- Relation between age and gender of board of management in Croom.................................................................55Table 13- Crosstable results among the variables highest level of education and category of profession..................................56Bar chart 17- Gender and position of board of management in social enterprise Croom...........................................................56pie chart 18- What do you see as the main objective of this social enterprise............................................................................57Bar chart 19- How would you rate the level of state support in this social enterprise................................................................58Table 14- The accessibility of state assistance for this social enterprise..........58Pie chart 20- Do you see the number of users in this social enterprise increasing in the next year...........................................59Table 15- Attittude of board of management on different aspects...................60Bar chart 21- Crossover between age and gender of employees in Croom......61Pie chart 22 What is the highest level of formal education achieved by this worker..............................................................62Pie chart 23- Is training provided within and/or by social enterprise...............63Table 16- Table of contingency and relationships between the variables gender and age in the users..........................................63Table 17- Table of contingency and relationships between the variables gender and level of education achieved in the users....64Table 18- Table of contingency and relationships between the variables gender and distance of residence of users..................64Table 19- Table of contingency and relationships between the variables gender use of the service in the future by users..........65

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Acknowledgements

Our group acknowledge that this project could not have been completed without the help of many different people.

Firstly we would like to thank all of the Rural Development lecturers in University College Cork throughout the year. We would especially like to thank Dr. Mary O’Shaughnessy for all her help and advice. She was very accommodating towards us and for her input we are most grateful.

We would like to thank the board members, users and employees of the social enterprises we visited at Croom Development Association and Lough Gur Heritage Centre. We were felt very welcome in both locations with the vast majority of the respondants being very co-operative and helpful throughout the investigation.

We would like to thank Catherine Smyth and Eileen O’Keeffe of Ballyhoura Development for their help in assigning us to our social enterprises and providing us with any help we needed during our week in the field.

We would also like to acknowledge the contribution of our class mates for all their help and support throughout the year especially in our week in the field in Ballyhoura which was a great experience for us all.

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http://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=acknowledgements&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDcQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.acknowledgements.net%2F&ei=NWNwT-HwLcLAhAfUpqCcBw&usg=AFQjCNFvRNK7k0P7f9nBYz7JipiafKYCsA

II. Introduction

The purpose of this study is to evaluate and examine social enterprise activity in the Ballyhoura region. Social enterprises are a vital resource, especially in rural areas where social exclusion and isolation are liable to occur. We will analyse the supports and resources utilised by the particular social enterprises in our study as well as their sustainability and future prospects to grow and develop. We will also examine, how people view the social enterprises in the community as a whole, but also we plan to get feedback and information from workers and volunteers on their involvement in their respective organizations.

This project will require us to undertake background research on various aspects regarding social enterprises and the Ballyhoura region in general. We will also formulate a methodology to finalise our research objectives and the methods we plan on using for the research we will be undertaking. We also plan on constructing questionnaires for the various parties involved in the social enterprises as we will be undertaking both qualitative and quantitative field research in the area. Our group also intends in using SPSS to analyse these results and finally draw conclusions from our results on the research we have undertaken.

The Local Action Groups Ballyhoura Development Limited was etablished in the early 1990s in a rural areas and it took part in L.e.a.d.e.r I, over the time 1991-1993, L.e.a.d.e.r. II from 1994 to 1996, L.e.a.d.e.r.+ from 2000 to 2006 and now in L.e.a.d.e.r. from 2007 to 2013. Ballyhoura Development Ltd. is a quality partnership based on voluntary, community, commercial and public sectors with the aim to stimulate sustainable development actions from local communities and the private sector and interface with the public sector in strategic planning, mobilising resources, from European Union and other Nation of EU throughout an international cooperation, and co-ordinating development which will maintain the Ballyhoura population, improve the quality of life of its residents and diversify the rural economic base in this rural areas. The Ballyhoura Development Limited Local Action Groups proposed different development programmes to promote marketing, to improve rural life, to promote food, natural resources, artisan products, rural tourism and village renewal. Quality of life is an important consideration for everyone, in particular for people who live in rural areas because this implies to improve living standards, even if it is not so easy to measure and to find the financial support the rural development and the expansion of social enterprises useful to guarantee some services as transport, childcare, elderly care etc. pivotal for rural areas.

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In rural areas the main target of Communitary Initiative L.e.a.d.e.r. was to improve social inclusion, sustainable development with a local-specific approach, to manage natural resources.

The role of L.e.a.d.e.r. was to obtain a local development using natural and cultural resources and giving and adding value to local products, the use of new know-how and new technologies, pillars able to guarantee an improvement in the quality of life in rural areas throughout the Local Action Groups (LAGs).

The social enterprises have a positive role on the socio-economical development of rural areas. In many cases the social enterprises have had a fundamental role to improve the level of socio-economic development and mutual local based exchange in terms of positive interactions among all the members, thus the social enterprises are tool of development of the rural areas and less favoured territories, making some services as local transport, health care and tourism (Borzaga, Fazzi, 2011). In Ireland social enterprises in Ballyhoura region have produced, through different linkages among different social-economical partners and users some positive effects and best practices due to European Community funds as L.e.a.d.e.r. and national funds able to reduce the social-economic divide in rural areas.

The development of social enterprises was a new way to improve the rural development and the level of interactions within rural territories mainly based on close linkages, fundamental to improve the quality of life and services, to reduce social exclusion and to promote a community based growth, among the citizens, that is pivotal to create a tightly connection between city and countryside (McDonagh, 1998). The role of social enterprises is to improve the conditions of living in rural areas throughout giving opportunities to some disadvantaged people to find a job and to provide recreational activities and facilities in particular. There is always a significant difference among rural and urban areas even if the economic crises have increased the level of social insecurity and the level of poverty in all Irish counties and in particular where there is a high incidence of rural population.

The tourism time series in Ireland has showed an increase, with the exception over the recession time, a significant increase in expenditure strictly linked to an high number of visitors (Fig. 1) who are interested to discover Irish places of interest, thus for the less favoured rural areas, as villages and towns located in Ballyhoura area, this was and could be a good opportunity to offer to specific clusters of tourists new activities (craft, artisan products, etc.) through rural villages that can be renewed using European funds and throughout the social enterprises to create new jobs and a growth of reciprocal interactions in terms of creation of a network, pivotal to promote an integrated rural marketing and a multilevel development in rural territories. The Lough Gur Heritage Centre is one of the social enterprises that will be analysed in this study. One of its main associations is with the tourism industry so it will be interesting to see

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how much of an impact the numbers of tourists have had and how does the social enterprise evaluate this impact.

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Fig. 1- The evolution of the tourism in Ireland (Source: ww.cso.ie)

The other social enterprise we will be analysing will be Croom Development Association. This is a town in close proximity to Limerick City and it will be interesting to see the effects on the town of the rising population and the projects and initiatives undertaken by the association to combat any problems or avail of any opportunities they might encounter with this recent development. The graph below (fig. 2 ) shows the rise in population in recent years.

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Fig. 2- Population in the rural district of Croom

To describe the area of study and the socio-economic background the statistical data of Central Statistical Office (CSO) published in Population Census and Agriculture Census to underline if there are some particular group of age (<14 years old) and more than 65 year old at risk marginalization. In particular, considering the aim of social enterprises, this is to offer services about healthcare, transport and childcare in less favourable areas. The statistical data analysed the population in the rural district of Croom (Fig. 2) where there has been a drop on people under 15 year old and over 65.

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III. Literature Review

For our group to get as much background information as possible on similar social enterprise activity, some relevant literature must be analysed. There were three main aims of our literature review. These were (A) The effect of LEADER programme on social enterprises and rural development. (B) The effect of social enterprise activity on an area and finally, (C) The relationship between social capital and social enterprises. These will all link into the main objective of the investigation, that is to examine social enterprise activity in the Ballyhoura region. This objective has four sub objectives which the literature review will also help address. These sub objectives are

1) To define the levels of social enterprise activity in the region.2) To analyse the economic support of external sources to the organization.3) To examine the capability of the social enterprise to survive in the future.4) To explore the views and opinions of the various parties involved in the

social enterprise. These being the users, the workers and the board of management.

The population has declined in most of Ballyhoura Country from 1996 to 2002, and when it started to increase it occurred near Limerick City. The agri-tourism scheme and the L.e.a.d.e.r programme have supported rural tourism and rural development initiatives in Ballyhoura. The L.e.a.d.e.r. program has acted as a stimulus and support to rural development, job creation, for example, through social enterprise activity throughout European Community Funds. Participation in L.e.a.d.e.r. I since 1991 was very important in the development of Ballyhoura Development. The targets of the Business Plan of Ballyhoura Development were to improve structures so as to create a basis for a diversified rural economy and to create an attitudinal climate and an expertise base to stimulate rural development in this area through enterprises, human resource development and application of new technology, and furthermore craft enterprises and local services. The economic effects in Ballyhoura have been the growth in the number of visitors and revenue is a direct outcome of the enhanced profile of the area and the development of tourism infrastructure linked to local natural resources. Business Plan prepared for L.e.a.d.e.r. II 1994-1999 was focused on training economic and social exclusion in the area and the main objective was identified as follows: “to improve the quality of life of the 51,356 residents”, focused on community and social enterprises. The factors that have been identified as contributing to successful enterprise promotion include carefully selected soft supports, facilitation of a co-operative culture, and the supportive role of Ballyhoura Development Ltd in establishing and sustaining appropriate partnerships.

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This next section of this literature review will examine social enterprise activity in general and in Ballyhoura. A macroeconomics approach is fundamental to define the Irish economic situation; the chapter 6th, in the book “The Economy of Ireland edition 2011”, eds. O’Hagan and McIndoe-Calder, is useful to understand and describe the employment and unemployment perspectives that Ireland have had and will be facing in the next future and the bottlenecks of its economy and it will be possible to solve the problem of labour market and possible solutions. The authors O’Hagan and McIndoe-Calder, in the 6th chapter, describe the socio-economic situation in 2011 comparing Ireland to other European realities and if there are same conditions and issues that in 1990s were fundamental to the creation of social enterprises in rural areas. To describe the area of study and the socio-economic background the statistical data of Central Statistical Office (CSO) published in Population Census and Agriculture Census and the website www.balyhoura.wordpress.com are very important source of information to define the context and effects of the initiatives made by Ballyhoura Limited Company, using national and European funds, on the development of the area of study through the social enterprises.

The paper of Murdoch and Abram “Defining limits of community governance” is helpful to analyse in rural areas the transition from government to governance, that is a typical aspect of governmental (local authority of financial support) and non governmental institutions (Ballyhoura Limited and social enterprises). The consequence of this kind of governance is to create an active community in which active citizens can be part of decision process and can become decision makers. The adjective ‘local’, defines the space where people can solve their problems and community is considered most effective to manage and solve common problems as in the case of social enterprise. Anyway, Murdoch and Abram analysed the consequence of this approach, that it is a growth of self-government where community and citizens are directly responsible; the state (public administration) has a role of coordination of public services and authority giving funds to finance a new model of local governance. Lyon and Sepulveda in 2009, in the article “Mapping social enterprises: past approaches, challenges and future directions” defined the different approaches bottom-up and top-down to create the social enterprises; in particular, they mentioned a local level as a place where intervening to improve the social enterprises underlined the role of autonomy in some local authorities from national government. In specific, they suggested to improve this approaches bottom-up because it is important to emphasize the social context that is the baseline to develop the social enterprises. Jessop in 1997 in the article “The future of the national state: erosion or reorganisation? General reflection on the West European case” observed as the state and the central government can create a new arrangement and a structure to allocate functions to use in a small and local scale only; according to this author, it is possible to value the local aspect of social enterprises in rural areas and the effects of them in terms of satisfaction of local citizens.

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http://www.balyhoura.wordpress.com/

The comparison among different types of social enterprises was carried out by Blundell et al. in 2011 in the paper “Analyzing the growth process in social enterprises: an historical perspective”. This article is useful to value the growth of social enterprises over the time and the implications that they have for policy makers; to sum up, the authors suggested, in an historical perspective, the role of public administration that is important: to manage funds, support the initiatives giving money and to coordinate the different social enterprises with the aim to replicate them in other contexts. The social enterprises need a multidimensional analysis because there are many external factors to analyse with the aim to guarantee their growth; the factors able to act on the structure of social enterprises, due to a multidimensional approach, are many such as their final aim, the governance and the relationships towards and among other social enterprises. The publication of O’Hara, who in 2001 analysed in the chapter 9th of the book “The emergence of social enterprises”, eds by Borzaga and Defourny, is able to define in the late 1990s, the development of social enterprises in Ireland and in the chapter 18 th the analyse of the network among social enterprises; this publication is helpful to analyse the context in which the social enterprises is acting and, compared to other recent papers available on the website www.emes.net, are able to give a complete picture and a framework of social enterprises in Europe valuating the effects of social enterprises in many socio-economic contexts. The economic aspects, or rather funds and other financial support able to guarantee the development and sustainability of social enterprises, and the effect on the area are studied and described in many articles in literature such as Curtis et al. 2011, O’Shaughnessy 2005, O’Hara-O’Shaughnessy 2005. Curtis et al. in the paper “An examination of the tensions and challenges associated with operating as a social enterprises- the case of Irish social enterprises” using a quantitative and a qualitative approach describe as social enterprises are able to improve the socio-economic conditions, according to Clann Credo website also, but they need funds to support the initiatives. In particular, the authors analysed the Community Service Programme and its role in “supporting voluntary and community group to provide local services to their community” in particular to guarantee opportunities to disadvantaged people and in function of the kind of services. This paper defines some aspects to value the impact of social enterprises in local communities and the role of politicians to increase the allocated funds to sustain this action to develop rural areas. To understand the role, effects and improvement of network collaboration among social enterprises, the websites www.clanncredo.ie is very helpful; it is possible to find in it some examples of how the social enterprises had tackled the challenges and how they can operate to solve the next issues as social exclusion, improvement of quality of life and the not less important role of social enterprises to guarantee a growth of social justice in Irish society and even if the financial aspect is the main disadvantage of social enterprises and of their sustainability. To complete the project work and to compare the social enterprises integration in different countries of Europe, in particular, according to the aim of the research, the paper written by Davister et al. in 2004 “Work integration social enterprises in the European Union: an overview of existing models”,

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http://www.clanncredo.ie/

http://www.emes.net/

is useful to analyse the mobilised resources, the benefits for workers and society and the evolution of WISEs during the time; in fact, there are specific target groups for each WISEs because different is the capability to create job opportunities. The resources are divided in three categories in function of the source of the support: market, public funds and subsides, donation and volunteering and non monetary resources such as social capital. O’Shaughenessy 2008, in the article “Statutory support and the implications for the employee profile of rural based Irish work integration social enterprises”, pointed out some tools to analyse in WISEs in rural areas, the difficulty to find a financial support, the development of competitiveness towards other social enterprises and the level of quality of services, that can be use to evaluate in a SWOT analysis some problems of social enterprises in Ballyhoura area. In this paper it is possible to find out the role of qualification, in employees and in the management, as tool to improve the competitiveness of social enterprises and the generated level of employment because in rural areas unemployed people have more problems than people, who live in urban areas, to find a job. In conclusion, more are the authors suggesting that the variable to consider to analyse are more, in the same way it is difficult to value the effectiveness of social enterprises in rural areas and how to act to improve them. The paper of O’Hara-O’Shaughenessy in 2005 “Work integration social enterprises (WISE) in Ireland” is able compared to the chapter 9th in the book “The emergence of social enterprises”, edited by Borzaga and Defourny, to guarantee a correct perception of the socio-economic Irish context in which social enterprises had to operate, the different sources of funds to find, what kind of initiatives put in place and the role of women and their qualification as variable to support an employment in social enterprises. The authors underlined different categories of social enterprises and their role in local community, the importance of training and the future challenges that need a national contribution and the consequence of a lack of funds by national authorities. In the article the authors mentioned the role of National Development Plan 2000-2006 so to analyse the situation in Ballyhoura, using that authors have proposed, it is useful to analyse the new plan 2007-2013 and to compare the different opportunities of the three categories of WISEs, underlining the benefits, challenges, functions and key questions of these ones located in rural areas. In this case, the WISEs are helpful to guarantee employment opportunities and the sustainability of rural communities, even if the nature non profit of WISEs can reduce both the level of trust of consumers and the idea of quality (perception) that these social enterprises could offer because they employee people at risk of social exclusion. In this case, the users can guarantee the sustainability of the social enterprises because the local community can suggest how to improve the services, tailored for users, and their quality. Anyway, a network to exchange the ideas, problems, challenges, solutions is a good tool to improve social enterprises sustainability but the disadvantages could be to improve the competitiveness among WISEs or other kind of social enterprises. The paper on the website www.emes.net, written by O’Shaughenessy 2005, “National profiles of work integration social enterprises: Ireland” is useful to underline the positive aspect, the role of social

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partnerships, the function of work integration social enterprises, the different categories of social enterprises and the role of the public sector as source of funds, in particular through local development organisations, able to use the European programme L.e.a.d.e.r., helpful to guarantee services in rural areas that the national government could not guarantee.

The literature about the SWOT analysis applied on social enterprises is so common on internet; Hersen in “The executive summary about the social enterprises in Turkey” defined some aspect to take in consideration to define a SWOT scheme. In the same way, the Neath Port Talbot in “Social Enterprise Strategy 2010–2013” defined a SWOT analyses to create a strong and sustainable social economy in some countries of Wales, where are working some social enterprises development environmental. The more recent publication about the SWOT analyses, written in 2008 by Carlo Borzaga, Giulia Galera, Rocío Nogales, on the website www.emes.net, with the title “Social Enterprise: A new model for poverty reduction and employment generation An examination of the concept and practice in Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States”, is the best one to define many aspects to value during the SWOT analysis.

To analyse the perception of social capital in social enterprises and how to intervene to improve it, Smith 2009, in a recent study, “The perception of and approach to social capital amongst managers of social enterprises”, through some interview to three managers in Ireland underlined the perception of social capital amongst citizens and managers of social enterprises.

The role and the relationships of social economy and social enterprises to generate social capital was investigated in 2007 in different countries of European Union by Evans an Syrett in the article “Generating social capital? The social economy and local economic development”. These authors have demonstrated how in some poor areas there is a lack of powerful role of private and public sector, so the social economy, linked to the social capital, become an important tool to guarantee the development of less favourable areas. The relationships among different stakeholders are an asset for poor areas, even if it for the future, there needs of a change in policies about both the social economy and subsides and economic supports towards social enterprises. These two authors pointed out a micro-level intra community integrated connections, based on bottom-up approach, able to guarantee the development of social capital. The network relationships are important to generate the social capital, to reduce transaction costs and to create, in deprived areas, communal infrastructures assisting, by social enterprises, the individuals and families who live there. The methodology proposed by Evans and Syrett was helpful to describe how social enterprises use and built the social capital in specific areas of European Union. The inter-relationships between social capital and social enterprises were based on the hypotheses as that local networks are fundamental to guarantee the development of social enterprises, able to create new social capital and

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a cycle among local social enterprises, generating a specific kind of social capital, and the local social economy.

In this project we will be investigating Social Capital in the Ballyhoura area. In the article “Age and Generation: Patterns of associational fertility and survival” written by Medina et al. 2007, six different urban areas are examined and in particular the demographics of these areas. Although Ballyhoura is a predominantly rural area it may be the case that the same principles of the abundance, or lack of abundance, are the same regardless of the environment. Medina particularly looks at fertility rates in the towns and ‘Draws the conclusion that the future prospects for the associative sectors in Bern and Aberdeen are not promising, both are characterized by low fertility rates’. The older population in areas like the two analysed cities are an indicator that peoples involvement in, and numbers of associations and organizations tends to be less so than areas where there is a young vibrant population. When looking at the future of associative activity Medina says ‘The prospects in Aalborg and Mannheim look brightest: high fertility rates combined with average rates of mortality’, whereas he is of the opinion that Aberdeen will go into a state of decline in relation to associative participation. This article concludes by stating that ‘Civil society is principally a local phenomenon, restricted to geographical unit where people live, work and communicate with each other’. This interpretation used by Medina that volunteerism and associative participation is indebted in the notion of social capital was also alluded to by Robert Putnam. Medina’s analysis focus’s principally on demographic trends of these cities. It will be interesting to see how the demographic trends in the Ballyhoura area we are assigned to will relate to what Medina is saying in this article.

Falk and Kilpatrick, in their article “What is Social Capital? A Study of Interaction in a Rural Community” acknowledge that it is very difficult to define social capital as it has a certain amount of ambiguity associated with it. They define it as an accumulation of the knowledge and identity resources drawn on by communities of common purpose. This study in the words of the writers themselves is aimed to examine the nature of the changes that occur through interactive processes in a rural community in particular they focused the study on a small urban settlement of about 2500 people, with similar size to some of the towns in the Ballyhoura region. This community had a history of division between long time traditional residents and newer residents. However the area is noted for its natural scenic beauty and people began to take local pride in this natural amenity they had. This brought together everybody in the community. This articles emphasis on society ‘learning’ from each other can be highlighted when it is said that there is an accumulation of social capital and its members seem to have learned that there are benefits from working and talking together in differently coupled networks for common purposes. The authors present a snapshot of the complexity of interaction and its outcomes in a community. It will be interesting to see if interaction between people in Ballyhoura will effect our notion of the development of social capital.

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In the paper of Sabatini 2009 “Social capital as social networks: A new framework for measurement and an empirical analysis of its determinants and consequences” the different types of social capital are discussed. It is suggested that bridging social capital is given by horizontal ties shaping heterogenous groups of people with different backgrounds. This type in particular may be well worth investigating in our region of study in Ballyhoura. Sabatini also alludes to the link between voluntary organizations and the presence of social capital in an area and areas characterized by higher levels of bonding social capital can suffer from a lack of bridging social capital.

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IV. Methodology

To undertake valid and worthwhile research a methodology had to be constructed so as to relate our research aims with the research methods we used in the study. The purpose of a methodolgy is to state what research methods were used in this project and why they were the most effective form of research.

The main goal of this research was to examine social enterprise activity in the Ballyhoura region. To achieve this we derived these four objectives:

1) To develop a profile of social enterprise activity within the region2) To examine and evaluate the levels of supports/resources available and utilised by the Social Enterprise3) To examine the capacity of the social enterprise to grow/develop 4) To explore attitudes/opinions of (a)service users, (b) workers and (c) community to the social enterprise

This research includes both primary and secondary data collection and analysis.

The primary data we collected is the data that we collected directly from the people who completed them, which includes: surveys, focus groups etc. The primary research we conducted was used to address the four sub-objectives. In our case we used surveys to get as much information as we could from service users and board managers. We have both qualitative and quantitative data from our research in the field. This was important for us because it enables us to examine both of these methods for our research. The qualitative approach enabled us to connect with and learn from peoples opinions and attitudes. Quantitative methods gave us a clear view on many different peoples attitudes for the questions that appeared on our questionnaires.

For the surveys and questionnaires we prepared we used mainly ‘tick the box’ answers. We did this, predominantly because it avoids any ambiguity with the answers to a particular question and also it enables us to use SPSS more efficiently with closed question answers. However as a last option for some of these questions we left an ‘other: please state’ option in case none of our previous choices were applicable to them. According to (Punch, 1998, p102) ‘The questionnaire will seek factual information (background and biographical information, knowledge, attitudes, values, opinions or beliefs)’. Punch further elaborates by expanding on the most effective ways of administering the surveys. The people administering the surveys should act in a professional manner and explain to the person subject to the interview that the research being undertaken would not be possible without an adequate number of respondents. When we were administering the surveys to the users of the service in particular we tried to co-operate with this method by being courteous and not putting any

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uncomfortable pressure on people to answer the surveys and also ensuring them of their complete annonomity in the project.

The primary qualitative data we sought were applied mainly by semi-structure interviews. This is an effective method of research in this case because the questions prepared beforehand will almost certainly be asked, the interviwee will also have the chance to ask new questions on any unforeseen issues or topics that may come up during the interview. They are very flexible in this regard. We had semi-structure interviews with board managers and chairmen of both Social Enterprises in Croom and Lough Gur. These interviews were very important because they gave us wide information related to: the profile of social enterprises, levels of support and resources available by each Social Enterprise. Also semi-structure interview made more obvious the potential and capacity of both Social Enterprises in Croom and Lough Gur. One of the main aims of this part of the project was to analyse the interaction and relationships between the users and the service.

Primary quantitative data were collected with the help of questionnaires. We had three types of questionnaires. The first was the questionnaire which was address to service users of each Social Enterprise, then a questionnaire was administrated to all members of the board managers and also board managers had to complete some questionnaires related with their employees. Questionnaires of service users helped us to explore attitudes and opinions of service users for both Social Enterprises. Members of board mangers were very important because from these questionnaires we could collect data to create the profile of the members and to get their opinion about the Social Enterprise. From employees questionnaires we had a subjective profile from their managers’ point of view.

In the case of creating a sample frame for the user’s questionnaires different elements had to be taken into account. ‘Direct element sampling’ is not possible in this particular survey for several reasons. The main ones being that we were only in the field for a week so it is impossible to survey every single individual who use the social enterprises and also we assured the respondents of the anonymity of our surveys, therefore disclosing all their details would be unethical. Our sampling frame for both of our social enterprises, were people who were using the service at the time the questionnaire was administered. In this way we ensured that it was people only using the service provided that were administered the survey as these were the research population we had targeted from the outset. As a group we approached people using the service, in a friendly manner, and if a larger group of people came, we would split up and try and get as many respondants as we could individually.

Statistical explanation of data collected from these questionnaires was analysed through SPSS® program.

Secondary data was obtained from different publications, sources from internet, magazines, publications etc. By analysing both primary and secondary data we achieved information that we needed to analyse social enterprise activity in the region with connection to our research objectives.

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Questionnaires as we said above are quantitative data for a research which means that when we have to analyse them we have to receive the percentage and frequencies regards to the questions we have made. We had tested the questionnaires before sending them out to the field because it is very important to write questions in proper and coherent way that everyone can understand. We did testing with different rural development officers due to the fact that they are aware of the background of the people that we were interviewing. It was very necessary to have all the range of answers expected from our interviewers because it makes easier at the end analysing process through SPSS®. For example if people will choose the option “other” this will create a problem for us while we will analyse the data at the end. This means that during the time that we were writing the questionnaires we were careful to reformulate most of the questions from “open-ended questions” into “closed-ended question” and to give all the possible choices to that question to make it easy to analyse. We were applying this method only for service users, board managers and employees questionnaires as they were part of quantitative data. The questionnaire we prepared was divided into four sections. We felt that by dividing it into sections that we would get a more comprehensive overview of the social enterprises activity and role in the community from the management’s point of view. In the first section of this questionnaire, we sought the board of management’s socio- demographic background. In this way we are addressing the information we need for sub objective 1. In section 2 we sought information on the board members own personal skill sets, but even more importantly their role in the organization. This addressed the second and third sub objectives of our study . The second sub objective will also be further elaborated on through analysing the opinions of the board members towards outside support from state agencies support to their own particular social enterprise. The third section of this questionnaire is associated with the attitudes and opinions of the board of management towards social enterprises in a wider sense but also their own particular social enterprise. The data from this questionnaire helped answer sub objective 4 of our research project.

As objective 4 relates to users, board of management and employees of the social enterprise then naturally more field research is needed to address the issues we want to analyse. For users of the service the surveys were handed out in public spaces near the social enterprises in our investigation where we would approach people and ask them to fill out the questionnaire if they so wished. For the employee surveys we issued the board of management the surveys to hand out to the employees whenever they felt it most appropriate. This was the method we used as we felt it would be the most effective way of getting the highest number of respondents to the surveys. The purpose of surveying the employees of the social enterprise is to appreciate the goals of the organization while at the same time get their opinions on job satisfaction and the management they work under. As a group we feel that through these methods of questionnaires and semi structured interviews that we can have achieved to meet the four objectives of the research of the social enterprises in the Ballyhoura area.

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V. Socio Economic Profile of Ballyhoura Area

The Ballyhoura area would seem to be a typical rural area in Ireland. However the work of social enterprises and Ballyhoura Development in the area has dramatically improved services and future prospects for people in the region. The Ballyhoura region itself is in the North East Cork/ South West Limerick area of Ireland. As of the last census it had a population of approximately 78000 people and its population density is approximately forty two people per square kilometre. This is significantly below the national average. As can be gathered from this statistic the population of the area is much dispersed and many areas are extremely isolated from even small urban centres. The region is divided into three area types, these being, peri-urban, intermediate and weak/remote rural.

Fig.3 - Ordnance Survey Map of Ballyhoura region.

NScale: 1:25000 source: www.osi.ie

There are thirteen towns in the area of varying sizes. These towns have been divided into three categories depending on their population. There are two towns that fall into category 1. These towns have a population of between 2500 and 3500 people. These towns are Charleville and Mitchelstown, both of which are in County Cork. The second category includes towns whose population ranges from 1000 people to 2500 people. There are four towns in the area that fall into this category. Of these towns, one of them is the town of Croom, with whom the local development association is part of this study.

The final category of towns according to Ballyhoura Development is category 3 towns. These towns may be best describes as villages have populations ranging from 500 people up to 1000 people. In total there are seven towns/villages that fall into this population group. In the region there are seventeen secondary schools and eighty four primary schools. Some of the secondary schools in particular are quite large. For

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Croom Lough

http://www.osi.ie/

example in Croom the secondary school has approximately eight hundred students. When you consider that the structure of the school is only designed to hold one hundred and fifty children, and a large number of the classrooms are pre-fabs, it is far from an ideal situation.

Fig.4-Ordnance Survey Map of Croom.


In terms of employment, traditional industries are the main employers in the area. According to Ballyhoura Development the main industries are agriculture, construction and transport. However the numbers of people employed in these industries has changed hugely over the past few decades, from recession in the 1980s and early 90s, to the Celtic Tiger years, to the present recession we are currently suffering. Ballyhoura Development says that in 1981 there were over 6000 people employed in agriculture within their caption area. In 2006 this was reduced by almost half. This is a typical trend which has occurred throughout the country in recent decades. In the construction sector of the economy during the prosperous years in the Irish economy, many people who were previously involved in agriculture switched to the more lucrative construction industry. In 1981 the census stated that in the Ballyhoura Development catchment area that there were 2200 people employed in construction. This rose to almost 3000 by the year 2006. The employment in transport is also a similar pattern with approximately 1000 people employed in this industry in 1981 and by 2006 there were almost 2000 people employed. However analysing these statistics analytically, it is important that there are other mitigating factors involved. The main ones being, the higher number of people going onto third level education and also the higher numbers of females in the workforce. The sectors above predominately employ males as they require heavy manual labour.

One of the more important socio economic factors of the Ballyhoura region is the spill over effects from urban centres like Limerick and even some of the larger

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http://www.osi.ie/

towns in the area. It is easy for local authorities to neglect these areas as many resources are confined to the urban centres where more people live and work in. Therefore services, infrastructure and social inclusion can gradually be damaged and deteriorate by long term neglect. The remote rural areas are facing huge problems when it comes to population. Not only is the population falling, but it is the younger people who are leaving these areas to pursue careers or as increasingly so in recent years, emigration. The age profile of these remote areas can be quite old as a result with low birth rates contributing to this vicious cycle.

Fig.5- Ordnance Survey Map of Lough Gur.


Having said all this Ballyhoura Development have helped ensure that the area does have a prosperous future. Our class visited a number of social enterprises that are vital to the communities revitalization and development. These social enterprises are the heart of the communities in which they are a part of and have raised the profile of the area, whilst at the same time providing vital services for the community as a whole, both socially and economically.

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http://www.osi.ie/

VI. Results And Disscusion

1 . S oc ia l En ter pr i s e : Lou gh G u r Her i tage C en tre .

For this Lough Gur Heritage Centre we interviewed Rosanne Dunne who is the marketing manager, Kevin Doody who is the treasurer and Tom Flynn, the chairman of the organization. The interview took place in the Honey Fitz Centre near Lough Gur on Tuesday the 31st of January 2012. This is one of two properties that falls under the ownership of the Heritage Organization, the other being the Lough Gur Heritage Centre itself. The people we interviewed were very helpful to us and we feel that we got all the information we needed.

1.1. Background And History

The first part of the interview was to just a general outline on the background of the organization and the goals, objectives and values of the Lough Gur Heritage Centre and the Honey Fitz centre. This links in to sub objective 1 of our investigation: That being to develop a profile of social enterprise activity within the region.

Lough Gur is owned by Limerick County Council. The Honey Fitz Centre was opened in the early 1970s. People at the time felt that it would be better to come together as a group rather than acting as one individual. The Honey Fitz was previously the old primary school but when the new building was built the old school was transformed into a community centre. It is a local community group set up by local people in the area. There are several community services provided at the Honey Fitz Centre like drama groups, facilities for community meetings and the Water Skiing Club hosts its meetings here, Irish Dancing classes and set dancing classes also among others.

The Heritage Centre was opened in 1981. Previously the Heritage Centre was under the control of Limerick County Council who in turn leased it to Shannon Heritage, which is a sister company of Shannon development. However, in June of 2011 after months of protracted discussions it was taken over by Lough Gur Development. It was a huge achievement for a small association on a centre that was previously loss making but since Lough Gur Heritage Association have taken it over it has become profitable because the employees are now funded. The Heritage Centre is open six days a week from Easter to approximately September or October and is open Sundays all year around.

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Here are a few images of Lough Gur and its adjoining heritage centre.

1.2. Goals And Objectives Of Lough Gur

This section of our interview addresses sub objective 3 of our

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investigation which is to examine the capacity of the social enterprise to grow and develop. By taking into account the goals and objectives of the organization the board members have a base from where they can build and plan for growth and development in the future of the social enterprise. The main objectives and goals of the organization, according to Ms. Dunne, were to provide a service to the community but she stressed that the organization is not out to make a profit but that they also try to ensure that they do not make a loss. If the Social Enterprise is not sustainable it is benefiting nobody. While the goals and objectives of the association have remained the same over time the Honey Fitz centre in particular has had to evolve in different ways. In this way it can be said that the purpose of the organization has changed over time. The main reason for the change in purpose in the organization is the fact that the centre has got busier in recent times. More people in the community are unemployed than in previous years and as a consequence of this the users have different needs when they are unemployed.

The main influence of the goals and objectives of the company is quiet simply funding according to the board members we were talking to. If they are losing money then certain services cannot be provided by the Lough Gur social enterprise. The role of work integration is interlinked with the goal of providing services to the community. They only apply for funding for work integration if there is a genuine need to do so. The goal of work integration is important but is usually a means to an end and is for a reason. On the issue of how the social enterprise copes with trying to achieve a balance between its different sets of goals we were told that an organization like this has a difficult task in trying to identify long term goals. This is mainly down to the cuts in funding in recent years. To maintain the values of the association there is almost an inherent or hereditary feeling amongst the community that people should partake at some level in the community association. Everybody can see the benefits that it provides and many people like seeing themselves as being a part of something that everybody in the area benefits from. Without funding from the CSP and the CE there would inevitably be disadvantages. Without this money funding of employees like Ms. Dunne and the other paid employees the social enterprise would simply not be able to provide the services and facilities it does at the moment.

1.3. Resources Within Lough Gur

This section of the interview is related to sub objective 2 which is to examine and evaluate the levels of support and resources available and utilized by the social enterprise. The ability of the social enterprise to provide some important services are dependent on the levels of income and funding they receive from various sources. The total monetary income of the Lough Gur in 2010 was €90 000 from sales and grants, but during last three years we were told that income trends has increased slightly. After taxes the social enterprise record a loss approximately by €7 000. They did not have raise because they operate on breakeven and the surplus goes back again. We were told that the amount of total monetary resources derived from the sale of goods and services

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to private persons and private households was €44 000. The most typical services present from this social enterprise are public events and festivals entertain by the lake to divert families, children with different games and clowns, crafts, etc. also there are various events in centre hall such as art classes, drama. All these events have an important effect on the total earning of Lough Gur Association. But in accessing this segment of the market this social enterprise is faced with many difficulties. Getting sponsorship is very difficult for instance. The way private persons and households learn about Lough Gur activities are by: flyers, notes, announcement in mass, website and also advertising on local radio and papers. Ballyhoura Development and CSP are the main purchasers of Lough Gur Association and they see relevant to support this social enterprise in the work they are doing for the community. Also Ballyhoura Development and CSP are the main network that facilitates the process of deriving this type of resources to from the public sector, especially for festivals and other entertaining events. The purpose of direct subsidization is to allow the events to happen but this does not mean that all money will be subsidies. The networks that facilitate the process of deriving resources from the public sector vary. The Department of Social Protection gives subsidization, as well as Limerick County Council. More often than not however it is up to the enterprise to cover the costs themselves, for example they may charge 15 euro a ticket admission and one hundred people may pay this. The performer themselves may cost 1500 meaning the enterprise breaks even, however if the hall is not full then they may be operating at a loss. To achieve any subsidies a rigorous application process is necessary. The Treasurer of the enterprise told us that the accounts are looked at in detail, all accounts must be audited, all taxes must be up to date and in effect they must tick all the boxes before they are eligible for any type of subsidization. It is difficult in reality to get this type of funding regularly we were told. When the organization is subsidized however it is done so because it is recognized that these types of social enterprises improve the level of services, quality of life and well being in the community as a whole. The main limitation in the ways the social enterprise is subsidized is the continuity of the funding. It is difficult to anticipate cuts in the budget from year to year so dependency on these types of agencies is not very secure. All three board members agreed that they believe that an organization such as their own will never be self sufficient and that they will always need some sort of subsidization and funding if they are to operate effectively. The rationale for these subsidizations is the difference these funds make in the local area.

1.4. Volunteers

This section of the interview, dealing with the levels of voluntary involvement in the organization helps address sub objectives 2 and 3. It addresses the objective on supports and resources as volunteers are one of the main non monetary resources the social enterprise has at its disposal. In this social enterprise there are between 30 and 50 volunteers. We were told that most of the volunteers were on the committee and that as

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such that there was not really a board of directors and that the committee made most of the decisions. The average number of hours contributed per volunteer is between two and four hours monthly, however on busier time like the festivals that occur during Summer and Halloween periods this may increase to 5 hours monthly. However this is incorrect to say that all volunteers offer the same amount of hours. The type of tasks provided by the volunteers varies greatly. Some people sell tickets, others provide security or make refreshments for certain events, some people erect tents. Everything provided for by the enterprise at events like a festival is usually from volunteers. The Lough Gur Social Enterprise does not rely on Volunteering organizations to acquire people to volunteer from them. It is of peoples own choice that they decide to volunteer for this particular association. The main reason for people volunteering their services in this particular social enterprise is the sense of self fulfillment, the sense of community and the feel good factor of contributing something to the local area. The volunteers are extremely important to a social enterprise. Without them most events simply would not happen. They are the most important people in the organization. There is an excellent relationship between the volunteers and the management of this association. The managers know that if they need volunteers and the volunteers realize that a manager is necessary to run the enterprise so there is a very healthy relationship between them. The main limitation in acquiring volunteers is time management. Neither the Honey Fitz nor the Heritage Centre has any specific strategy in recruiting new volunteers. They send out emails and may make announcements at mass on a Sunday but there is no definite plan for increasing the number of volunteers in the social enterprise. This provides an interesting insight into the organizations capacity to grow and develop which is sub objective 3 of this project.

1.5. Networks

The networks that the social enterprise involved with, link into the relationships between the organization and different areas. It links into the relationship between the social enterprise and funding agencies while also the relationship between the organization and the people in the area and the engagement of different partners and stakeholders involvement in the rural development in the area. This connects and incorporates the organization with the levels of social capital in the area. There are different networks that Lough Gur is involved with. At a local level they are involved with the local people in the area and Ms. Dunne stressed that this was very important. At a regional level there is Ballyhoura Development and also the Social Economy Network. An important set of networks are other organizations funded by Pobal and the CE scheme. At a National level they are trying to get involved in a Tourism Association while there is no International Networks. There are huge benefits to these networks. There are other social enterprises similar to Lough Gur that face the same problems. For example if the hall in the Honey Fitz needed chairs for a show they can readily contact some other group who could help them out in this regard. The social enterprise in

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Lough Gur is committed to maintaining these networks but especially at the local and regional level as these are the most useful to the organization. This is the case as Lough Gur and the Honey Fitz would deal with these groups on a regular basis and know what quality services they are getting when they deal with each other. The maintenance of the number of volunteers is also a significant challenge that must be overcome. There is one key group of potential users that the association hasn’t fully availed of and that is schools tours for both primary and secondary schools. The management that we talked to said that they don’t think they would do anything differently if they lived in an urban setting. As you would expect there are many weaknesses from delivering this type of a service in a rural setting. For example people in rural areas are far more likely to suffer from social exclusion. There is high unemployment and subsequent depression in the area around Lough Gur. The lack of public transport in the area is also a problem and this puts a strain of the services that the social enterprise supplies. There are however some strengths also. There is a great sense of community in the area and people willing to volunteer. The main threat that could threaten future growth or development is the increasing lack of funding and the increasing need for the services of the facilities. The people we interviewed were actually optimistic about their enterprise in the recession. They are aware that some of their funding will be cut, however on the other hand with more unemployment in the area there may be a sort of grassroots movement where people will stay local and engage in local activities rather than looking further afield for sources of entertainment. The Arts typically thrive in a recession due to the low cost involved in providing the entertainment so the Honey Fitz in particular are cautiously optimistic that the next few years may be strong ones for the social enterprise.

1.6. Analysis through SPSS

This is the data collected from the service users in Lough Gur. We put all the information from our 22 questionnaires in the SPSS programme and achieved these results. From the data that we analyse, we have four section of service users which are: socio-Demographic profile, Experience with and attitudes of the service, Attitudes and Beliefs, Finance

Socio-Demographic profile

The bar chart 1 below shows the relation between the gender and the age of users that we interviewed in Lough Gur. The vary majority of users were female and most of them were 45 to 64 years old. From our questionnaires we can see that users male from both categories 25-44 and 45-64 are at the same amount of users female 25-44. However it is necessary to specify that female category from 15-24 years old is really insignificant.

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The bar chart 2 shows the relation between the principle status and education due to the fact that education is a good factor to influence on their opportunities for jobs we decided to compare these variables together. The information that we get is very important to give us an overview related to the background of the service users in this area. Furthermore, it is essential because it will helped us to create a clear picture on the profile of our service users in this Social Enterprise. We can see from the chart and the data from the table that more than 60% of the users have third level degree and this is something very significant because it illustrates that users in this Social Enterprise are people who know the values and are able to appreciate and evaluate the good job done by the Lough Gur Association. We can say that the majority of people who use these services are employed and it is the same for both levels of education: Secondary and Third level.

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Bar Chart1.

It was very difficult for us to ask people about their earning because this is a very private issue. We had to be very clear with them that this was a confidential questionnaire. Most of the time we have to ask them again at the end about their income indirectly. The highest percentage are from 401-600 and 801+. We believe that this information is in one way connected with the level of education and with their principle status.

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Bar Chart 2.

Experience with and attitudes of the service

The second section in our questionnaires was about the experience that the users had with this Social Enterprise. As we can see from the pie chart below more than 80% have used these services before and only 13% did not. This is important information for us because our focus was on users of the services that this Social Enterprise offer.

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Pie Chart3.

Pie Chart4.

Our samapling target of people were people who used this service before due to the fact that only them can give an evaluation how they rate the services. We proved that users were really satisfied with the services produced by this Social Enterprise as around 40% of them said that the service was good and more than 35% said excellent.

Tab.1 - If you have used the service , please rate as:

Frequency Percent Valid PercentCumulative Percent

Valid Very Poor 1 4.5 5.3 5.3

Average 1 4.5 5.3 10.5

Good 9 40.9 47.4 57.9

Excellent 8 36.4 42.1 100.0

Total 19 86.4 100.0Missing System 3 13.6Total 22 100.0

From the combination of these two questions we can prove that users that have availed of the service before have heard from word of mouth and local media. On the other hand, users that have not used the services of this Social Enterprise have heard about it from local media.

Tab.2 - Crosstable of contingency and relationships between the use of the services and the hearing in the social enterprises Lough Gur

How did you hear about / come to use this service?

TotalWord of Mouth Local Media Other

Have you ever used this service?

Yes 8 7 3 18

No 0 3 0 3

Don't know 1 0 0 1Total 9 10 3 22

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The bar chart 5 below illustrates the information from the table 6.

The third section is awareness and opinion that users have related to Social Enterprise.

From the bar chart it is obvious that the best way of improving the awareness of the Social Enterprise in Lough Gur Association is by community newsletters. After community newsletters, they think that website of Lough Gur Association is also an important step towards creating awareness of this Social Enterprise, as well as news papers advert, in view of the fact that these are the most important ways of communication in this area.

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Bar Chart 5.

Bar Chart 6.

Tab. 3- Crosstable of contingency and relationships between the understanding of social enterprise and what does it need to provide good service.

What does a social enterprise need most to provide a good service ?

TotalAccessibility

Trust with service providers / social enterprise

Trustworthy volunteers/workers Polite Staff

In your opinion what is a social enterprise ?

Voluntary Organisation

2 0 5 0 7

Community Service

3 2 4 1 10

Conventional Business

1 1 2 1 5

Total 6 3 11 2 22

Our research is based on Social Enterprise activity. For this reason, it was necessary for us in this research to know users understanding about social enterprise (Tab.3).

The majority of interviewers believe that a Social Enterprise is, in other words, community service. Furthermore, it is obvious most of the users assume that a Social Enterprise needs trustworthy volunteers/ workers in order to provide better services (Bar chart 7).

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Tab.4- Community engagement with the service


Valid Yes 15 68.2 68.2 68.2

No 1 4.5 4.5 72.7

Don't know 6 27.3 27.3 100.0

Total 22 100.0 100.0

The bar chart 7 and table 4 show the levels of engagement with the community as a whole with the social enterprise at Lough Gur. 15 out of 22 respondants felt that the community engaged with the enterprise sufficiently. However it must be remembered, not just for this question, but for all of them that there is only a small number of

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Bar Chart 7

respondants, so it can be difficult and inappropriate in some cases to draw definite conclusions. Tab.5 - Cross table of the relationship between egagement and appreciation of the community

Do you feel that the community fully appreciates the service provided ?

TotalYes No Don't know

Do you feel the community engage with the service sufficiently ?

Yes 8 4 3 15

No 0 1 0 1

Don't know

4 2 0 6

Total 12 7 3 22

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Bar chart 8

It is very important to point out that the users of Lough Gur social enterprise are mostly satisfied with the services that this community provide and most of them are strongly in the opinion that government should give more funding for this community services (Tab.6 & Bar chart9).

Tab. 6- Crosstable and relation among : do you believe that the service is good value for money? & should receive more government funding the service provider?

Do you believe that the service provider should receive more government funding ?

TotalYes No Don't know

If you have, or currently use this service before, do you believe that it is good value for money ?

No 5 1 0 6

Yes 12 1 1 14

Don't know

1 1 0 2

Total 18 3 1 22

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Employee’s survey

The number of employees that we interviewed was ten people. Our objective was to analyse the opinions of employers and attitudes of employees about working in a social enterprise. The proportion of gender is almost the same, and this is really a good thing because years ago gender was a big issue all around the world. We noticed that female section was widely diverse related with to age (Tab.7).

Tab.7- Crosstable of contingency and relationships between the variables gender and age in employee Lough Gur

Gender

TotalMale Female

Age 15-24 1 1 2

25-44 2 2 4

45-64 0 3 3

65 And Above 1 0 1Total 4 6 10

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Bar chart 9

As you can see from Graph 11 and Table 8 we could not have access on their privacy information. Only four of them did answer to the domestic situation and dependents.From the variables age and dependents on workforce we noticed that there is no dependence.

Tab.8- Crosstable of contingency and relationships between the variables age and domestic situation in the employees in the social enterprises Lough Gur

How many persons per household are dependent on this individual worker?

TotalNo dependents Don't know

Domestic Situation Single 3 0 3

Cohabitates with a partner

0 1 1

Total 3 1 4

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Bar chart 10

The graph shows the relation of worker’s attitude and gender (Bar chart 12). The majority of female employees are classified as mature participant in this social enterprise, while in male section there is no mature participant. We noticed those males are classified in this section more as early school leaver. Also we should mention the fact that in both genders there is low number of employees which have other social problems

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Bar chart 11

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Bar chart 12.

The graph (Bar chart 13) shows the relation between gender and education. We point out that the majority of female in this social enterprise have a formal level of education in leaving certificate and third level of education/university. Otherwise, males have these levels of education: intermediate certificate, leaving certificate, apprenticeship and university.The way employees arrive in Lough Gur social enterprise is shown in Table 9.

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Bar chart 13.

Tab.9- Table of contingency about the way the workforce arrive in Lough Gur social enterprise


Valid Department of Social & Family Affairs

5 50.0 50.0 50.0

FAS 2 20.0 20.0 70.0

Other community/voluntary/charity/social enterprise organisations

1 10.0 10.0 80.0

From other units of the same social enterprise

2 20.0 20.0 100.0

Total 10 100.0 100.0

We can see from Table 9 50% of the employees in Lough Gur were employed from department of social and family affairs. Also it is important to point out that 20% of them have arrived in this social enterprise from FAS and the same is for other units of this social enterprise.

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The bar chart 14 shows the relation between the age and employability. It was unpredictable for us to find out the people in Lough Gur have difficulties at age 25-44. However there is a high level of middle employable from 15 to 64 with the same rate.Next variables that we want to analyse in employee’s survey were the level of education with the training provided by the social enterprise itself (Tab.10). We noticed that no training was provided by the social enterprise.The last variable that we analyse from employee’s questionnaires was type of integration scheme that this social enterprise did provide to the workforce (Tab.11). So the table shows that the majority of the integration scheme / measure that Lough Gur social enterprise provide to employees was the employment by means of an active labour market employment scheme. On the other side the regular employment and placement on a vocational training scheme were insignificant.

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Bar chart 14.

Tab.10- Crosstable results among the variables level of education and training provided by Lough Gur social enterprise

Is training provided to the worker within and/or by the SE?

TotalNo

What is the highest level of formal education achieved by this worker?

Intermediate Certificate/Junior Certificate

1 1

Leaving Certificate 3 3

Leaving Certificate Applied

1 1

Apprenticeship 1 1

Post leaving certificate programme

1 1

University/Third level education

3 3

Total 10 10

Tab.11- Type of integration scheme/measure does/did Lough Gur social enterprise provide for this worker


Valid Regular employment 1 10.0 10.0 10.0

Employment by means of an active labour market measure/employment scheme

8 80.0 80.0 90.0

Placement on a vocational training scheme

1 10.0 10.0 100.0

Total 10 100.0 100.0

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Tab.12 -Board Manager’s Questionnaires

SOCIO-DEMOGRPHIC PROFILE B.M.1 B.M.2 B.M.31. Gender: Male Male Female2. Age: 45-64 45-64 45-643. Highest level of education: Secondary Third level Other4. Category of profession: at work at work At workROLE OF BOARD OF MANAGEMENT

1. Position within this social enterprise: Volunteer from local association

Volunteer from local association Other

2. The contribution that he makes to the board of this social enterprise: advisory Financial

Administrative

3. Do you have the appropriate level of skills to enable you to carry out your duties within the social enterprise: Yes Yes Yes4. Can you avail of appropriate training to help you to carry out your duties within the social enterprise: No Yes No

5. Reason for having a role in the board of management within this social enterprise:

I feel I can help benefit the community by being part of it.

I feel I can help benefit the community by being part of it

I gain financially from being part of it

ATTITUDES AND BELIEFS 1. What do you understand by the term Social Enterprise:

Voluntary organization

Community service

Community service

2. ln your opinion, does this social enterprise receive adequate state support: No Yes No3. Does this social enterprise have a mission statement: Yes Yes Yes

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4. Does this social enterprise have a marketing plan: Do not know Yes No

5. What do you see as the main objectives of this social enterprise:

To provide a service to the community



6. From the list below please choose what best corresponds to your opinion as to the main challenges encountered by this social enterprise:

Getting access to funding

Generating trade income

Generating trade income

7. Did this service exist locally before the emergence of this social enterprise: No Do not know No8. How would you rate the level of state-support, including financial, mentoring etc received by this social-enterprise: Terrible Very good Terrible9. From the choices below, which corresponds most closely to your opinion on the accessibility of state assistance for this social enterprise:

Very difficult to access

Quite accessible

Very difficult to access

10. In your opinion, would this social enterprise survive without state assistance: No Do not know No11. Does this organisation have any traded income: Yes Yes Yes12. Do you see the traded income of this social enterprise increasing in the next year: No No No13. Do you see the number of users of this social enterprise increasing in the next year: Yes Do not know Yes

The table above (Tab. 12) and chart below (Chart 15) shows the results of the questionnaires from the board management at Lough Gur. It was only possible for us to get three of these surveys. One of the more interesting results we discovered were the results to question 2 of the attitudes and beliefs section regarding the levels of external support to the organization. One of the board managers said they thought that the social enterprise did receive sufficient support despite the cutbacks in recent years. From our interview with another member, they were of the opinion that the social enterprise was struggling and would struggle into the future if furthur funding was cut. This links into question 8 of the same section when the management were asked what they thought of the levels of state support to the social enterprise. The second respondant who was the chairman of the organization said that they thought that there was very good levels of support from these sources. At the other end of the spectrum, the other two board members thought there was terrible support in this regard. The second board member also said that they did not know if the social enterprise would survive without state support while the other two members were adament that the organization simply could

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not function without this support. This was unusual as the three board members seemed to have completely different opinion on the issue of the sustainability and support the enterprise receives from other sources.

Bar Chart 15 - Attittude of board of management on different aspects

Withdrawal of statutory funding in 2012 will be detrimental to the survival of this social enterprise

Improvements in marketing would help this social enterprise to develop further

This social enterprise needs to improve its level of efficiency

This social enterprise makes no difference to the local community

All members of the board of management bring useful skills to this social enterprise

Changes in government policy could aid this social enterprise to develop further.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

a)Strongly Agreeb) Agreec) Undecidedd) Disagreee) Strongly Disagree

The main points we can arrive on in terms of the social enterprise at Lough Gur is that it appears to be a very important resource for the community. From our interaction with the users of the service and the answers they gave to some of the answers in the questionnaires, there is an appreciation and support behind the services that the social enterprise provides. It must be remembered however that the number of respondants we had was small and it would be inaccurate in this regard to presume the opinions of the community as a whole. Although we intentionally targeted the users of the service, we did not speak to any non users and their opinions on the shortfalls and limitations of the services provided. With the semi structured interview with the board of management we got a valuable insight intohow the organization is run, the challenges it faces on a daily basis and the services they provide to the people in the local area. We became aware of the difficulty of the social enterprise to stay afloat if government funding or other forms of external funding were cut as paid employees would be no longer viable and the serices provided would inevitably suffer as a result. We also learned about the importance of voluteerism

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and how the tasks and heavy involvement the volunteers have on the various committees and events held by the association. From the questionnaires we collected from the board of management and employees we can see the important work they do and their views on working for community organization. It is clear that funding is the main worry going into the future, especially in the economic times, but most respondants seemed optimistic for the future and that the organization could achieve its goals and objectives into the future.

2. Social Enterprise: Croom Development Association

We visited Croom Development Association on Wednesday the 1st February 2012 at the community centre there We met Elaine O’Keeffe who is the manager of the social enterprise and two directors, Seamus Sheehan and John Murray. They were extremely helpful and were extremely accommodating towards us.

2.1. Background and history

The Development Association in Croom was established in 1988 to meet the growing needs of the community. Croom is approximately nine miles from Limerick City and due to its proximity it was one of the main towns where local authority housing was built. The people of Croom felt that their town had been used as a dumping ground by Limerick County Council and as there was no public representatives in the area they felt that they were being somewhat marginalized by the county council. The original goal of

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the organization was to build a small community hall where could meet with meeting rooms and kitchen facilities. At this time every community in the area had a community centre of some sort so this was one of the main objectives behind it. Funds were needed to achieve this and the community set out on fundraising for capital to build a hall. It was not until Denis Brosnan, who is the CEO of Kerry Group, and had just moved into the area that the people of Croom. Mr. Brosnan used his contacts in the golfing world to organize a Golf Classic with several big names attending. In 2006 and 2007 the ‘Friends of Croom’ was founded. The principle aims of this group was to restructure the community association and plan ahead for the future and tackle the problems Croom had been suffering from. In particular this group wanted to focus on employment, sporting, cultural and sporting issues. At the AGM in 2008 Croom Development Association took form the structure it has today. The organization is divided into different pillars which focus on different issues: For instance one pillar focuses on the town and its environs, Another pillar is the community voluntary group where people use their experience to help the community association. On this board there is one director and six members. Croom itself has a population as of the last census of 1596 people. It has a large secondary school with over 800 pupils. There is 25 % unemployment in the town and very little employment is located in the town itself only whatever retail activity is in the town. When you analyze all these factors it is easy to see that Croom does need an organization to provide social and economic support for the towns inhabitants.

The hall is used constantly everyday by the people in the town. The schools in the town avail of its facilities during the day while night activities also take place. The Development Association currently has three other properties also with two of them currently under construction, that being an enterprise centre and a civic centre. The association has also acquired 13.5 acres in the middle of the town, courtesy of Denis Brosnan where the civic centre is currently under construction. The history and background of the association is connected to sub objective 1 of the project which is to develop a profile of social enterprise activity in the area around Croom.

2.2. Goals and objectives

The main goal of Croom Development Association is simply to develop, and improve the quality of life in Croom in various different ways by providing services and facilities for the community. Prior to the existence of this organization community spirit in the town was very low. There was poor social and economic development and one of the main goals was to bring in employment into the town and to keep people working in Croom, meaning that people did not have to travel to Limerick or even further afield to work. Another main objective of the social enterprise was to up skill and re skill the community. The principle goals of the community centre itself were to provide a space for the community to meet and for sporting and entertainment events to take place. The

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ethos of the organization has remained the same since the enterprises inception, however the management realizes that its role in the community has changed and it is more important now than it has ever been before. Government Policy has dictated this because the people in the town felt that due to their proximity to Limerick they had been neglected, even during the boom years in the Irish economy. Work integration provided for by the CSP and CE schemes are very important to the running and up keep of the facilities of the association. It is important as volunteers can only do so much and the more people contributing to any social enterprise the more efficiently it will run. The role of work integration is interlinked with goals and provision of services.

The social enterprise at Croom said that it was very difficult to achieve a balance between its different sets of goals. Financial strain is becoming an ever increasing problem. They always do their best to serve everybody in the area. Strategically the company has been changed with six sub committees and thirteen directors. Everybody can see the benefits it provides to the community with a shared set of goals and principles to improve the town as much as it can. The most important values of the association are tackling problems, as already highlighted. One of the more successful projects undertaken by the organization is the Tidy Towns initiative where Croom has excelled and this shows how the community rallied around the organization to improve the town in this way. The community realizes that Croom would be dead and forgotten about without this organization. The organization realizes that it is very dependent on the state for funding. While they are managing and getting by at the moment they are anticipating that funding and grants may well be cut over forthcoming budgets. If and when this happens they say that they will have to depend on the community if they are to maintain the levels of service that they currently provide. This section of our interview addresses sub objective 3 of our investigation which is to examine the capacity of the social enterprise to grow and develop. The goals and objectives of the association are essential in this aspect.

2.3. Resources2.3.1. Revenue Stream

The total monetary income for the Development Association in 2010 was 300 000 euro. There have been some trends in the change of income over the last three years. In particular state support has been reduced greatly since the economic downturn started. The Department of Social Protection has reduced funds for both the CSP and CE schemes in recent years. They have received grants for different projects also from different sources. The Social Enterprise operated at a loss in 2010. For this section of the interview the board members told us that they did not have some of the information that some of our questions were asking.

2.3.2. Public Sector

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Wages costs were 60 % funded from public sources in 2010. The Department of Social Protection, FAS and Pobal provided funds for this. Ballyhoura Development only provided funds for specific projects. There may be some difficulties in acquiring these subsidies. If the state reduces grants it is difficult to receive one as well as the fact that they are competing with similar type organizations all over the country. Government policy is the reason why subsidies are provided to social enterprises like Croom. Croom Development Association generally has a good relationship with public agencies according to the members we met. The number one limitation in the ways this social enterprise is subsidized is the lack of continuity from one year to the next. The board had no idea what type of funding they will receive this time next year and as a result it is difficult to plan long term projects where a significant amount of capital is needed. The town has been neglected for long enough by several political administrations and Limerick County Council for years. For example if it were not for the Tidy Towns committee in Croom the streets would not be even as remotely clean as they are now. In theory this is a service that Limerick County Council should provide, however with a little funding the streets of Croom are cleaner than they ever were before. This section of the interview, dealing with the income and other monetary issues of the social enterprise were important for addressing sub objective 2 of our research project.

2.4. Volunteers

This part of the interview was relevant to the second and third sub objectives of our project. It addresses the 2nd sub objective. Volunteers support and participate in all the activities and events that this particular social enterprise organizes. Croom Development has between 30 and 40 volunteers. However this number varies depending on what events are happening at the time. There are 13 volunteers sitting on the board of directors. There is a huge variation in the levels of hours volunteered by members. For example board members go to a lot of meetings, while directors meetings may only take place once a month. The main way in which Croom get people to offer their time to them is through the good will of the people in the area who want to give something back to the community, where many of them have lived their entire lives. This is the main motivation behind people getting involved in the social enterprise in Croom. We were told that the people who give up their free time have a huge sense of self fulfillment and satisfaction when they see their neighbours and friends benefiting from the time and effort they put into the association.

The volunteers are important for the growth and development of the association into the future, thus linking this part of the investigation with the 3 rd sub objective, the capacity of the social enterprise to grow / develop. Croom Development Association simply would not exist if people were not willing to offer their services. There is a very healthy relationship between the manger of the social enterprise and the volunteers. They from time to time have disagreements but both sides recognize that they are

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aiming for the same goal, that being the betterment of the standard of life for the residents in Croom. In this regard, both parties realize that compromise is needed at certain times. The primary limitation in the way the social enterprise attracts volunteers is that it is difficult to find long term volunteers who will stay with the organization. In this regard it can be difficult to maintain the levels of volunteerism if more people were to leave the town as the levels of emigration and people from the area moving elsewhere has risen in recent years. Croom have no specific policy of attracting new volunteers and this may be an area they could put more resources into if they are to cater for the needs of the town. The social enterprise does receive funds from Ballyhoura Development for capital projects. Croom say they have not received any voluntary contributions or donations from other third sector organizations, however they have received mentoring and advice for certain projects and initiatives.

2.5. Networks

The networks that the social enterprise involved with, link into the relationships between the organization and different areas. It links into the relationship between the social enterprise and funding agencies while also the relationship between the organization and the people in the area and the engagement of different partners and stakeholders involvement in the rural development in the area. This connects and incorporates the organization with the levels of social capital in the area. There are no other networks locally that Croom is involved with. However at a regional level they are involved with the Community Service Program Network, Social Economy Network, Regional Family Resource Network and the District Forum. Nationally they are involved with the National Community Services Program. On the international front there is no direct involvement with any network, however when the enterprise centre is completed they hope that it will attract some kind of international attention, although this is not a huge priority for them. The most important networks that Croom is involved with are the District Forum and Community Services Program, with whom Elaine O’Keeffe is the chair. The social enterprise does not have a three year development plan however they have large projects currently ongoing like the construction of the civic and enterprise centers in the town. The key challenges likely to face the organization in the next 3 to 5 years are financing projects, ensuring that contracts from state agencies for staffing are still received and the management and running of new facilities is also a challenge they anticipate facing in the future. They have no input into government departments or government policy. However they intend to maintain fundraising locally, encourage partnerships and maintain usage of the facilities they have at their disposal. They also intend having tenants at the enterprise centre and civic centre in upcoming years which they hope will generate extra income.

With the development of the Civic and Enterprise Centers there are obviously new targets to acquire tenants to fill units here. These are unchartered waters for the

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social enterprise but a challenge they felt they were relishing. They also feel that they may target the elderly people of the town as future users of the services in the town. The people of Croom see the town as an urban setting. They also cater for people in the hinterland of the town in more rural areas. There are some advantages and disadvantages to provide this service in a peri-urban setting. Croom itself is a small town and people in general have a great sense of community in the area nowadays. People realize what they want and what is needed in the town and everybody realizes this and pulls together. On the other side it is difficult to achieve all the goals they set out to do with only a limited number of people available to help. As already mentioned with the construction of the new enterprise and civic centres the social enterprise is expanding and diversifying. The risks and threats that may hinder the growth or further development of the social enterprise are the lack of volunteers, lack of government funding and government policy. We were told that there were some ambitious projects that were in the pipeline in the past but due to the risk element involved they decided not to pursue them. The management feel that the organization is definitely sustainable, however they acknowledge they will struggle at times. The recession has had a negative on the social enterprise in Croom. There is also a lot of uncertainty with government departments and how much they are prioritizing social enterprises like Croom Development Association

2.6. Main results in contingency tables (SPSS)

To estimate some statistical relationships among quantitative and qualitative variable observed during the phase of survey by questionnaire, we have used contingency tables on these three datasets:

1) board of social enterprises Croom;2) users of people in Croom;3) employees in Croom.

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The bar chart 16 shows the relation of age and gender in the social enterprise Croom. In social enterprise Croom we interviewed 7 board managers. The age group consists of the most members on the board of management is from 45 to 64 and the majority of them are female.

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Bar chart 16

Tab.13- Crosstable results among the variables highest level of education and category of profession?

Which of the following corresponds to your category of profession?

TotalAt workLooking after family/Home

Unable to work due to

disability/sickness Other

Which category below best represent your highest level of education?

Primary 0 1 1 0 2

Secondary 0 0 0 1 1

Third level 3 0 0 1 4

Total 3 1 1 2 7

The cross table 13 shows the relationship that exists between the level of education and the profession that board managers have in Croom Development Association. As we can see from the table above people that have third level of education describe their profession as workers. The contrary happens with the board managers who have only primary degree, they are looking after their family or they are unable to work.

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Bar chart 17

The bar chart 17 above illustrates the relationship that exists between the gender and the board management position within social enterprise. The majority of board management are volunteers from local association. The fact they are part of board of management as volunteers make us understand the important of volunteers within this social enterprise. It is essential to involve volunteers in decision about different issues. There seems to be a relatively equal distribution between males and females in the social enterprise. This different from the levels of employees as can be see in chart 21 where eight out of ten employees were male and only two were female.

As we can notice from the pie chart 18 it is very important the impact that this social enterprise has on community. All of the board managers chose two very significant answers as the main objective of this social enterprise. Both types of answers are related with the improvement of the life style of Croom. The majority of them believe that the main objective of Croom Development Association is to provide services to the community and the rest of them to create job opportunities for the community.

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Pie chart 18

Tab.14- The accessibility of state assistance for this social enterprise

Frequency Percent Valid PercentCumulative

Percent

Valid Very difficult to access

2 28.6 28.6 28.6

Difficult to access 5 71.4 71.4 100.0

Total 7 100.0 100.0

From the table 14 and the bar chart 19 above we conclude that most of board of management’s rate state support as fair including financial and mentoring aspects, even though some of them were sceptical about this issue. The board of management seemed conscious of the economic environment the country is facing and realise that whatever funding they receive is of great benefit to them. However, when it comes to the accessibility of state assistance five out seven respondents said that they thought it was

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Bar chart 19

difficult to access state assistance. This may be for a few reasons. Funding has become increasingly limited due to cuts at both a national and European level but also because there is increased need for funding from different, similar sized associations. Croom is in effect, in competition with these other social enterprises, all of whom are seeking the betterment and improvement of the quality of life of their inhabitants lives.

The pie chart 20 shows the board members opinions on whether the number of users of the social enterprise will increase in the next year. Of the seven board members four believed that there would be an increase in numbers, while two were unsure. This may reflect the increased importance the social enterprise may take on in the future. As economic fortunes are poor for the foreseeable future people may look to the association for support in many ways. They may get involved in volunteering for the organization as the y have more time on their hands but even more so it will give people recreational outlets and activities that they otherwise may not have access to or that they might not be able to afford. The community centre caters for all ages with various types of events and with the economic recession hitting the town the opportunities that may arise from the construction of the civic and enterprise centres may be the start of the rebirth of a commercial industry in Croom. People seem to recognize the work and value of the organization to the community and this may be where the increase in volunteers may come from.

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Bar chart 20

Tab.15- Attittude of board of management for different aspects

Withdrawal of statutory funding in 2012 will be detrimental to the survival of this social enterprise

Improvements in marketing would help this social enterprise to develop further

This social enterprise needs to improve its level of efficiency

This social enterprise makes no difference to the local community

All members of the board of management bring useful skills to this social enterprise

Changes in government policy could aid this social enterprise to develop further.

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

a)Strongly Agreeb) Agreec) Undecidedd) Disagreee) Strongly Disagree

The table above 15 shows the attitudes of the different managers towards various aspects of the social enterprise. Some of the questions are related to funding with all of the members of management in aggreement that any cuts or withdrawl in funds in 2012 would be detrimental to the survival of this social enterprise and that an increase in aid would prove extremely beneficial. With most of the questions there was a general agreement among the board members however on a few questions there were differing views. For example when asked if the social enterprise needed to improve its level of efficiency, over 40% said that they were unsure while the remaining percentage disagreed.

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The bar chart 20 shows the relationship between the age of the employees and also their gender. It must be remembered that there were only ten respondents to the employee surveys, however this was all the employees currently working at Croom Development Association at the time of the study. Of the ten employees only two of them were women. Both of these women were between the ages of 25-44. There appears to be far more male involvement, certainly in terms of numbers than female involvement in this regard. Another trend from the bar chart is that, of the male population employed in the association; six out of eight were between the ages of 45-64. In fact over half of the employees in this particular social enterprise were over 45 years of age. If the enterprise wants to look to the future and bring new ideas and freshen up the various committees, then it may target more women to become involved in the association, as well as younger people in general who can help bring more dynamism to future projects.

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Bar chart 21

From the pie chart 22 shown we can see that there are varying degrees of education of the employees of the social enterprise in Croom. The employees an association like Croom may receive from schemes like the Community Employment (C.E.) scheme vary in tasks and skill sets. For instance the employees with the university or third level degree or post leaving certificate program may be in more involved in (but not necessarily) administrative roles rather than those with a Leaving Certificate or an apprenticeship. These people may be more involved in maintenance of premises or different aspects of the organization which they may well have expertise in. For instance, electricians, carpenters and other trades people have been needed in past renovations and will be used in future renovations of the different premises that Croom Development Association is involved with. In this way social enterprises like the one at Croom are very inclusive and offer people not only employment, but an opportunity to expand their knowledge and to upskill as well as helping out a community association.

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Pie chart 22

The pie chart 23 shows the numbers of employees in the social enterprise who have or have not received any form of training either within and/by the social enterprise. As can be seen the ratio of those who have and have not received training is equal at 50 %. This is an interesting figure and it must be pondered why not all of the employees have received training. Inevitably cutbacks in this sector in recent years have meant that all services, training services included may not be able to accommodate everybody who needs it. The social enterprise is currently working at full capacity when you consider that its funding has been less in recent years and therefore is not able to provide the services needed to train every employee.

Tab. 16- Table of contingency and relationships between the variables gender and age in the users

Age

Total25-44 45-64 65 and aboveGender Male 1 0 0 1

Female 10 9 2 21Total 11 9 2 22

The table 16 above shows the relationship between the gender and the age of the users that we interviewed at the social enterprise in Croom. The majority of users were female

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Pie chart 23

and 10 out of 22 belong to group age 25 -44 years old and 9 out of 22 belong to the category 45 to 64 years old. From the questionnairs that we had we had only one male interviewed which is an insignificant participation of males and he belongs the age 25-44 years old. However it is necessary to specify that female category from 65 years old was significantly less than younger age groups.

Tab. 17- Table of contingency and relationships between the variables gender and level of education achieved in the users

Which category below best represents your highest level of education achieved

TotalPrimary Secondary Third LevelGender Male 0 1 0 1

Female 3 14 4 21Total 3 15 4 22

The table 17 shows the relationship between gender and education due to the fact that education is a good factor to influence on their opportunities for jobs we decided to highlight this. The information that we got was very important in giving us an overview related to the background of the service users in this area. Furthermore, it is essential because it will help us to create a clear picture of the profile of our service users in this Social Enterprise. We can see from the table that 15 out of 22 of the users have secondary level education.

Tab. 18- Table of contingency and relationships between the variables gender and distance of residence of users

Distance from this service

Total0 -10 km 10.1 - 20 km 20.1 km +Gender Male 1 0 0 1

Female 14 4 3 21Total 15 4 3 22

The table 18 as shown displays the correlation between the gender of the users and the distance they live from the location of the social enterprise. As can be seen, most of the users of the service reside near the service provided. Out of 22 respondants, 15 lived 0 -10 km from the service. This result comes as no surprise as the services provided are there to serve the local population. 3 respondants travelled a distance of at least 20 km which suggests that they must have a good impression of the service if they are tavelling this distance to avail of the services.

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Tab. 19- Table of contingency and relationships between the variables gender use of the service in the future by users

Using this service in the future

TotalYes No Don't knowGender Male 0 0 1 1

Female 13 2 6 21Total 13 2 7 22

Table 19 shows the relationship between the future use of the service and gender. The one male respondant was unsure whether he would use the service again. Howver of the remaining 21 people we surveyed 13 said they would use it again and only 2 said they would not. This shows a high level of satisfaction with the service and exhibits the high standard of service that Croom Development Association provides to its service users.

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VII. Conclusions And Recommendation

From our investigation it can be seen that both of the social enterprises we visited provided important services. The people that use these important services differed in both enterprises. In Croom the facilities were only targeting the local people and for the betterment of the town. Lough Gur meanwhile, catered for local people, but also tourists coming to the area. The attraction of tourists also benefits the local people, as the tourists spend money in the locality resulting in the improvement of the standard of living in this rural area. Croom Development Association meanwhile were in the process of investing in an enterprise centre. In both these particular social enterprises the organizations are doing more than just providing a service, they are trying to secure a sustainable future for their respective areas by attracting outside investment into the area. Lough Gur are trying to attract tourism that has a low impact on the environment, protecting the rural area and landscape of the countryside.

This analysis has pointed out a pivotal role of national and external support as a financial and socio-economic tool to improve the rural development and the social inclusion by social enterprises and a recreational function for the community through the medium of social enterprises. One aspect that surprised us was the lack of awareness of both social enterprises towards European funds. Both of the social enterprises hardly mentioned the L.e.a.d.e.r. program which raises the issue if the social enterprises are fully aware of the funding of Ballyhoura through L.e.a.d.e.r. One aspect which is clear is that both social enterprises will find it difficult to provide the same number of services if funding is continually decreasing from year to year.

For Lough Gur Heritage Association their social enterprise could be furthur expanded and improved by improving the natural landscape of the area, around the lake in particular, to attract furthur visitiors to the area. Both social enterprises are optimistic about growing in the future. From our research it seems that Croom Development Association has more capacity to expand in the future for a number of reasons. Firstly they have received additional support than similar type social enterprises through the donations of Denis Brosnan in addition to government and other sources of funding. Also upon the completion of the Enterprise Centre and Civic Centre within the next few years it will open more oppurtunities for the town to develop financially and socially and also for the social enterprise in Croom to do the same. Lough Gur has not been so lucky as to receive financial support from an external sources like Mr. Brosnan* so its development may be slower in the coming years because of this.

*Denis Brosnan was CEO of Kerry Group who moved into the Croom area in the late 1980s.

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From our interaction with the service users of both social enterprises we conclude that they were fully aware of the importance of the services that they provide. For many of the users it was their primary recreational and entertainment facility. Most users had few complaints about the service that was being supplied to them. One issue in Lough Gur that was mentioned more than once was the lack of a playground and facilities like a coffee shop or a small resteraunt where it would be possible to get something to eat. Most service users were of the opinion that the social enterprises should be prioritised by the government more and should receive more funding. When we surveyed the service users at Croom they did not mention any ways in which they felt the social enterprise could be improved. Perhaps this is due to the fact that there were new facilities under construction, namely the civic and enterprise centres and therefore they had no new suggestions or complaints in this regard. Both the social enterprises in this study seemed to be the only community based initiatives in their respective areas. This is the primary reason behind the communitys appreciation of them. The community in general seemed to realise that there would not be a huge sense of community in these areas if these social enterprises were not present.

The attitudes of the board of management, some of whom were also employees like Elaine O’Keeffe at Croom, and Rosanne Dunne at Lough Gur, were quite similar. Most of the management were aware that funding from external sources were critical to the everyday running of these social enterprises. They were also in agreement that without voluntary involvement that the enterprises simply would not be sustainable and that the services that they provide could not be accomodated. Most of the members of the board of management and various committees were volunteers themselves. In this way we can see that it is the voluntary involvement that is the core of these social enterprises. The social enterprises, through voluntary involvement, creates high levels of social interaction and higher levels of social capital in the communty where these social enterprises operate.

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O’Hara P., O’Shaughnessy M., 2005. Work Integration Social Enterprises in Ireland. Working paper n. 5/2003, on website www.emes.net.

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O’Shaughnessy M., 2008. Statutory Support and the Implications for the Employee Profile of Rural Based Irish Work Integration Social Enterprises. Social Enterprises Journal, 42, 2, 126-135.

O’Shaugnessy M., 2005. National Profiles of Work Integration Social Enterprises: Ireland. Working paper n. 2/2005, on website www.emes.net.

Sabatini F., 2009. Social capital as social networks: A new framework for measurement and an empirical analysis of its determinants and consequences. The journal of Socio-Economics, 38, 429-442.

Smith S., 2009. The perception of and approach to social capital amongst managers of social enterprises. Bsc Thesis, UCC. Punch K., 1998. Introduction to social research : quantitative and qualitative approaches. London. Sage publications. Websites:- www.clanncredo.ie.- www.balyhoura.wordpress.com.- www.emes.net.- www.europa.eu.- www.nrn.ie.- www.osi.ie

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http://www.osi.ie/

http://www.nrn.ie/

http://www.europa.eu/


http://www.balyhoura.wordpress.com/

http://www.clanncredo.ie/


IX. Appendix

Proposed schedule of question to key stakeholders (Manager, Chairperson of Board)

Background to the SE 1 Can you provide me with a brief historical background to the WISE?2 When was it founded?3 By whom and for what purpose?4 Please describe the main types of goods and services produced by the WISE

Goals, objectives and values of the SE5 Describe the main goals/objectives of the SE?6 Has the purpose of the organisation changed over time? In what ways?7 What/who do you attribute to this change in purpose?8 What/who do you attribute to the retention of the original purpose of the

organisation?9 Who/what are the main influence on the goals/objectives of the organisation?

Explain your answer10 How important is the goal of work integration to the SE? Explain your answer?11 How important is this goal of work integration compared to the goal of providing

services to the community? Explain your answer.12 How does the SE cope with trying to achieve a balance between its different sets of

goals?13 Is there any tension within the SE arising from maintaining this balance? Please

describe in detail.14 Describe the most important values of the organisation?15 Who is responsible for setting and maintaining these values?16 Because of the dependency on state support initiatives such as CE and/or CSP, do

you think the organisation suffers from any particular disadvantages? Please elaborate?

Resources within the SE

Revenue Stream:17 What was the total monetary income of the SE in 2010?18 Please describe the income trends of the SE in the last three years? In your opinion,

what has influenced these trends?19 Did the SE record a profit or loss (after tax) in 2010? If the SE recorded a profit how

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was this used?

Direct sales of goods and services to private individual and private households:20 What % [amount] of the total monetary resources to the SE in 2010 was derived from

the sale of goods and services to private persons and private households?21 What are the typical type of goods and serviced purchased by this segment of the

market?22 Please describe any of the difficulties faced by the SE in accessing this segment of

the market?23 How did/do private persons/private households learn about your services/ goods?24 Are there any specific networks that facilitate this process (e.g. volunteers/workers

within the WISE, other local third sector organisations, statutory agency personnel)?25 In your opinion, what motivates these buyers to buy your goods and services?26 In your opinion, how important are these set of customers for the SE? Explain.

Resources derived from the public sector through direct sales, direct and indirect subsidies:Sale of goods and services to public sector27 What % [amount] of the total monetary resources to the SE in 2010 was derived from

the sale of goods and services produced by the SE to the public sector?28 What agencies/departments are the main purchasers?29 What motivates these to purchase the goods and services of the SE? 30 What are the typical type of goods and serviced purchased by this segment of the

market?31 Are there any specific networks that facilitate the process of deriving this type of

resources from the public sector (e.g. volunteers/workers within the WISE, other local third sector organisations, statutory agency personnel)? Please describe in detail.

32 In your opinion, how important are these networks for the sale of goods and services?

33 Please describe any of the difficulties faced by the SE in the sale of goods and services to the public sector

34 In your opinion, how important is the public sector as a purchaser of the goods and services of the SE?

35 Please describe the kind of relations the WISE has with public agencies purchasers?

36 Direct subsidies received from the public sector37 What % [amount] of the total monetary resources to the SE in 2010 was derived from

the receipt of direct public subsidies?38 What agencies/departments provided the SE with direct subsidies?39 What is the purpose of this direct subsidisation?

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40 What motivates these agencies/departments to provide this direct subsidisation? 41 What are the typical type of goods and service that are subsidised?42 Are there any specific networks that facilitate this process of deriving these types of

resources from the public sector (e.g. volunteers/workers within the WISE, other local third sector organisations, statutory agency personnel)? Please describe in detail.

43 In your opinion, how important are these networks for the acquisition of these subsidies?

44 Please describe any of the difficulties faced by the in accessing these subsidies. 45 In your opinion, what motivates the public sector to provide you with direct

subsidies?46 Please describe the kind of relations the SE has with public agencies?47 In your opinion, what, if any, are the limitations of the ways in which the SE is

subsidised?48 What rationale do you offer for the ongoing receipt of public subsidisation?

Volunteers 49 How many volunteers [number] in the SE?50 How many of these [number] sit on the voluntary board of directors?51 Please describe the contribution of volunteers to the SE in terms of (a) number of

hours contributed per month, (b) the type of tasks performed?52 Please estimate the monetary value (per hour) of this voluntary effort to the SE?53 Are there any specific networks that facilitate this process of deriving these types of

resources (e.g. volunteers/workers within the SE, other local third sector organisations, statutory agency personnel)? Please describe in detail.

54 In your opinion, how important are these networks for the acquisition of this resource?

55 In your opinion, what motivates these volunteers to provide the WISE with their time/ contribution/professional services?

56 In your opinion, how important are volunteers for the WISE? Explain.57 Please describe the kind of relationship that exists between these volunteers and the

WISE/manager of the SE?58 In your opinion, what, if any, are the limitations to the ways in which the WISE

acquires volunteers? Please elaborate59 Does the SE have a specific policy of attracting new volunteers? 60 Does the SE derive any income from other third sector organisations? Explain.61 Does the SE benefit from the voluntary contribution9s) of other third sector

organisations? Explain

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Networks

1. Please describe the networks, which the SE is involved in at a local, regional, national, European/international level?

2. What are the benefits of these networks for the SE? Please illustrate your answer with specific examples.

3. Is the SE committed to participating in networks? Explain your answer. In your opinion which types of networks (i.e. local, regional, national, European/international) are the most important for the WISE and why?

4. Does the organisation have a three year development plan?5. What do you think are the key challenges likely to face the organisation in the

next 3 to 5 years?6. What measures are you taking to meet these challenges?7. Do you have a marketing plan?8. Do you have future target (users) groups?9. If you had to provide this same service in an urban setting, what would you do

differently?10. What do you think are the strengths/weaknesses of delivering this kind of

service in a rural setting?11. Are there any opportunities for you to expand or diverse the business?12. What are the risks/ threats that may hinder the growth or further development?13. Do you feel this organisation is sustainable?14. Do you think the current recession has a negative effect on social enterprises? In

what ways?

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Employee Survey To Be Completed By Manager/Supervisor

SE code |_||_| |_||_| |_||_||_|

|_||_| |_||_| |_||_||_|Individual worker code |_||_| |_||_| |_||_||_|

Socio-economic characteristics of the worker1

Age

Q1 0 - 14 years |_|15 - 24 years |_|25 - 44 years |_|45 - 64 years |_|65 years and over |_|

GenderQ2 M |_| F |_|

Domestic SituationQ3 Please, tick one answer only

1. Single |_|2. Cohabitates with a partner |_|3. Lives with parents or other family members |_|4. Other (specify |_|5. Don’t Know |_|

Q4 How many persons per household are dependent on this individual worker?

1. Children |_||_|2. Relative (specify) |_||_|3. Other (specify) |_||_|4. No dependents |_||_|5. Don’t Know |_||_|

1 Supported through either Community Employment and/or the national Social Economy programme.

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Q5 What is the highest level of formal education achieved by this worker?

Please, tick one answer only

1. No formal education |_|2. Primary Education |_|3. Intermediate Certificate/Junior Certificate |_|4. Leaving Certificate |_|5. Leaving Certificate Applied |_|6. Apprenticeship |_|7. Post Leaving Certificate Programme |_|8. University/Third Level Education |_|9. Don’t Know |_|10. Other (please specify) |_|11. Other (please specify) |_|

If more than one category applies please confine your response to a maximum of three and rank in order with 1 being the most significant

Q6 Which of the following best describes the worker?If you tick more than one (maximum three), please rank with I being the most

significant

1. Long-term unemployed2 |_|2. Person with qualification problems (e.g. lack of formal qualifications) |_|3. Early school leaver |_|4. Mature participant (greater than 55 years old) |_|5. Individual with an officially recognised intellectual and/or physical disability

|_|

6. Person with other social problems (e.g.: drug addict, minors with family problems, homeless, alcoholic, etc)

|_|

7. Refugees8. Mental illness

|_|

10. Other (please specify) |_|

Q7. How would you describe his/her employability? Please, tick one answer only

1. Easily employable |_|2. Middling employable |_|3. Hardly employable |_|

2 More than one year of unemployment.

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Q8 How did the worker arrive in your organisation? Through which channels?Please tick one answer only

1. Department of Social & Family Affairs|_|2. FAS|_|3. Worker applied for a position of employment in the social enterprise|_|4. Other community/voluntary/charity/social enterprise organisations|_|5. From other units of the same social enterprise|_|6. Other (please specify) |_|

Q9 What type of integration scheme/measure does/did your organisation provide for this worker? If you tick more than one, please rank in order of priority with 1 being the most important

1. Regular employment |_|2. Employment by means of an active labour market measure/employment scheme

|_|

3. Placement on a vocational training scheme |_|4. Other (please specify) |_|

Q10 Is training provided to the worker within and/or by the SE? Yes |_| No|_|

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Confidential Board of Management Questionnaire

The purpose of this researchThis research aims to examine social enterprise activity in the Ballyhoura region. This research is being undertaken as part of a post-graduate diploma project with University College Cork.You have been selected to take part in this research as you are a member of the Board of Management of XXX. Complete anonymity is guaranteed.

Section 1- Socio-Demographic

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IntroductionIn this section are required to answer questions regarding your socio-demographic.Please answer all 4 questions

1. Gender

(a) Male (b) Female

2. Which category below includes your age?

(a) 0-14

(b) 15-24

(c ) 25-44

(d) 45-64

(e) 65+

3. Which category below best represents your highest level of education?

(a) Primary

(b) Secondary

(c ) Third Level

(d) Other (Please Specify)

4. Which of the following corresponds to your category of profession?

(a) At work

(b) Looking for first regular job

(c ) Unemployed (Having recently lost a job)

(d ) Student

(e) Looking after family/Home

(f) Unable to work due to a disability/sickness

(g) Other please state

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Section 2 – Role of Board of Management

IntroductionIn this section you will be required to answer questions regarding your role within this social enterprise.Please answer all 5 questions

1. Which of the following best corresponds to your position within this social enterprise?

(a) Representative from a state agency including L.e.a.d.e.r.

(b) Volunteer from local association

(c ) Private Business Owner

(d) Other

(please specify)

2. Which of the following, best corresponds to the contribution that you make to the board of this social enterprise? Please pick one answer.

(a) Administrative

(b) Advisory

(c ) Financial

(d) Other (Please Specify)

3. Do you have the appropriate level of skills to enable you to carry out your duties within the social enterprise?

(a) Yes (b) No (c ) Don’t Know

4. Can you avail of appropriate training to help you to carry out your duties within the social enterprise?


5. In your opinion, which of the following best corresponds to your reasons for having a role in the board of management within this social enterprise?

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(a ) I gain financially from being part of it

(b) I feel I can help benefit the community by being part of it

(c ) Other (Please Specify)

Section 3- Attitudes and Beliefs

Introduction-In this section you will be asked about your opinion regarding Social Enterprises in general and this Social Enterprise in particular.Please answer all 14 questions.

1. What do you understand by the term Social Enterprise?

(a) Voluntary Organisation

(b) Community Service

(c ) Conventional Business

2. ln your opinion, does this social enterprise receive adequate state support?


3. Does this social enterprise have a mission statement?

(a) Yes (b) No (c ) Don't Know

4. Does this social enterprise have a marketing plan?

(a) Yes (b) No (c ) Don't Know5. What do you see as the main objectives of this social enterprise? Please select one answer.

(a) To provide a service to the community

(b) To generate employment in the community

(c ) To generate profits

(d) Other

Please Specify

6. From the list below please choose what best corresponds to your opinion as to the

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main challenges encountered by this social enterprise? Please choose one answer.

(a) Getting access to funding

(b) Finding skilled employees

(c ) Generating traded income

(d) Finding volunteers

(e) Poor level of local awareness of services provided

(f) Other

Please specify

7. Did this service exist locally before the emergence of this social enterprise?


8. How would you rate the level of state-support, including financial, mentoring etc received by this social-enterprise?

(a) Terrible

(b) Fair

(c ) Good

(d) Very Good

(e) Excellent

(f) Don’t Know

9. From the choices below, which corresponds most closely to your opinion on the accessibility of state assistance for this social enterprise?

(a) Impossible to access

(b) Very Difficult to Access

(c ) Difficult to Access

(d) Quite Accessible

(e) Easily Accessible

10. In your opinion, would this social enterprise survive without state assistance?

(a) Yes (b) No (c ) Don’t Know 11. Does this organisation have any traded income?

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(a) Yes (b) No (c ) Don’t Know 12. Do you see the traded income of this social enterprise increasing in the next year?

(a) Yes (b) No (c) Don’t Know

13. Do you see the number of users of this social enterprise increasing in the next year?


14. How do you feel about the following statements?

(a)Strongly Agree

(b)Agree

(c ) Undecided

(d)Disagree

(e )Strongly Disagree

12.1) Changes in government policy could aid this social enterprise to develop further.

12.2) All members of the board of management bring useful skills to this social enterprise.

12.3) This social enterprise makes no difference to the local community.

12.4) This social enterprise needs to improve its level of efficiency.

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12.5) Improvements in marketing would help this social enterprise to develop further.

12.6) Withdrawal of statutory funding in 2012 will be detrimental to the survival of this social enterprise.

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Confidential

Service User and Community Questionnaire

The purpose of the research

The research aims to examine social enterprise activity in the Ballyhoura region. This research is being undertaken as partial fulfilment of a postgraduate diploma within University College Cork.

Complete anonymity of all information given is guaranteed.

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Section 1- Socio-Demographic

This section regards your socio-demographic profile.

Please answer all 7 questions

1. What is your gender?

1. Male 2. Female

2. Which category below includes your age?

1. 0-14 2. 15-24 3. 25-44

4. 45-64 5. 65+

3. How many dependants do you have?

1. 0 2. 1 3. 2

4. 3 5. 4+

4. Which category below best represents your highest level of education achieved?

1. Primary

2. Secondary

3. Third Level

4. Other Please state _________________ 5. How far do you live from this service?

1. 0-10km

2. 10.1-20km

3. 20.1km+

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6. How would you describe your present principle status?

1. Employed

2. Unemployed

3. Pupil/Student

4. Retired

5. Unable to work due to permanent illness/disability

6. Looking after the home/family

7. Other Please state _________________

7. Which of the categories below corresponds to your weekly earnings?

1. €0-€200

2. €201-€400

3. €401-€600

4. €601-€800

5. €801+

Section 2- Experience with and attitudes of the service This section regards your experience with and attitudes of social enterprise in the area.


8. Have you ever used the service?

1.YeS 2. No 3. Don't Know

9. If yes, please rate the service as: (please choose one)

1. Very poor 2. Poor 3. Average 4. Good 5. Excellent

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10. If no, is it because: (please choose one)

1. Unaware of service 2. Irrelevant 3. Poor reputation

4. Other Please state___________________

11. How did you hear about/come to use this service? (Please choose one)

1. Word of mouth 2. Internet 3. Local media


12. Do you see yourself using this service in the future?

1.Yes 2. No 3. Don't Know

Section 3- Awareness and Opinions

This section regards your awareness of and opinions towards social enterprise in the area.


13. In your, opinion, what is a social enterprise:

1. Voluntary Organisation

2. Community Service

3. Conventional Business

14 . In your, opinion, is there a lack of awareness of a social enterprise in the area?

Yes No Do not Know

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15. If yes, how could awareness be best improved? (Best chose one)

1. Community newsletters

2. Community family fun days

3. Radio adverts

4. Local newspaper adverts

5. Website

6. Social Media

7. Other Please state ____________________

16. In your opinion, what other services could be added to meet growing needs of the community?

1. Physio care

2. Mobile pet grooming

3. Swimming classes

4. Personal shopper

5. Visitation

6. Mobile hairdresser

7. Other Please state ____________________17. What does a social enterprise need most to provide a good service? (please choose one)

1. Accessibility

2. Trust with service providers/social enterprises

3. Trustworthy volunteers/workers

4. Time Management

5. Polite staff


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Section 4- Community EngagementThis section regards community engagement of social enterprise in the area.


18. Do you feel that the community engage with the service sufficiently?


19. Do you feel that the community fully appreciates the service provided?


20. Do you feel that the local politicians engage sufficiently with this service?


21. If yes, do you feel that it is a good or bad influence?

1.Good 2. Bad 3. Neither 4. Don't Know Section 5- FinanceThis section regards the finance of social enterprise in the area.


22. If you have, or currently use this service before, do you believe that it is good value for money?(Skip to Q. 23 if you have not used the service)


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23. In order to provide this service, what in your opinion is the main source of funding that this organisation relies on? (One answer only)

1. Irish Government 2. European Union 3. Trade

4. Philanthropy 5. Fund-raising


24. Would you be willing to pay a higher price for the service if government funding was cut?


25. Do you believe that the service provider should receive more government funding?


26.If the service provider was to receive additional funding, what would you identify as the most important use of this funding? (please choose one)

1. Lower service price 2. Employment of additional staff

3. More staff training 4. Improved marketing strategies

5. Capital Investment 6. Expansion of the service


Thank You

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