Shopmobility Renfrewshire welcomed Scottish Government Minister for Social Enterprise, Tom Arthur MSP to their local office in Paisley, last month.
At the request of Community Enterprise in Scotland, Shopmobility Renfrewshire hosted a meeting with Tom Arthur MSP – the Scottish Government Minister with responsibility for Social Enterprise – alongside Douglas Westwater the Chair of Community Enterprise in Scotland.
Shopmobility Renfrewshire had participated in Community Enterprise’s ‘ACCELERATE’ business development programme which has helped to develop the charity’s plans to operate their repairs service as a social enterprise. This will mean that any income received from repairing people’s mobility scooters could be reinvested into the charity, to help maintain and improve their services.
Karen Miller, Office Manager and Fundraising Officer for Shopmobility Renfrewshire, said: “We were delighted to host the Scottish Government Minister for Social Enterprise, Tom Arthur MSP, to our office to discuss the role of social enterprises within Scotland.
“It was an honour to host this partnership meeting with Community Enterprise and Tom Arthur MSP, the Scottish Government Minister for Social Enterprise. It gave us a chance to explain the impact of the ACCELERATE programme on our plans to develop the charity as a social enterprise and contribute to community wealth building.
“It was a pleasure to meet Tom Arthur MSP, who is also the local constituency MSP for Renfrewshire South, and to hear the plans that the Scottish Government has to promote not just social enterprise but also the wider community wealth building agenda. “
She added: “We are so pleased that he took the time to outline the bigger political picture and to see for himself the work that we are doing within Shopmobility Renfrewshire.
“We were especially pleased to welcome Douglas Westwater as Chair of Community Enterprise to thank him for the support we have received from his organisation and, in particular, from their consultant Marcus Coetzee, who has been instrumental in keeping us focused on our development and has been a great support to us.”