History of FSEN
Our History
2004
With the support of SENSCOT, the first ever meeting took place at Furniture Plus in Dysart. Gordon Brown attended. This was the first SEN (Social Enterprise Network) meeting of it’s kind in Scotland. Other regions soon followed suit.
Social Value Lab produced some mapping on behalf of Fife Council. The research showed that there were 167 SEs in Fife with a total combined income £26.9m.
2005
2011
Several members of the network came together to develop a pilot. A member of staff at Brag Enterprises was asked to do some hours as a Volunteer Co-Ordinator to develop opportunities for SEs in Fife.
The Fife Social Enterprise Network was formally constituted.
2012
2015
The FSEN meetings were still going ahead but had become the same few faces and were more like a board meeting than a network meeting. The network wasn’t being resourced and no-one had the time to give the network the kickstart it needed. In 2016, the meetings stopped all together and the FSEN was put ‘on hold’.
In 2017, Brag Enterprises got a new member of staff giving business support to SEs in Fife and she decided to resurrect the FSEN, even though it still had no resource. The first meeting was held towards the end of the year and had an attendence of almost 50 members.
2017
2020
Over 300 social enterprises have been identified in Fife. Three meetings a year are still held with great attendence numbers. But….the future of FSEN is unsure. Watch this space.
