Co-op Fortnight Day 12 – Supporting Social Enterprises
This article will take approximately 4 minutes to read
Published 2 Jul 2021 in Raising Awareness
Social enterprises make positive social changes by donating their profits to support their local communities or reinvesting them back into their businesses. Midcounties supports a number of social enterprises, such as Oxford-based Tap Social, one of our Best of Our Counties suppliers.
What is a social enterprise?
Social enterprises operate in nearly every sector, selling goods and services to generate profits that are then reinvested back into their business or donated. This allows them to tackle social problems, improve people’s life chances, provide training and employment opportunities for marginalised individuals, support communities and help the environment.
Well known examples include The Big Issue, Divine Chocolate and the Eden Project but there are over 100,000 social enterprises throughout the country contributing £60 billion to the economy and employing two million people.
What is Tap Social?
Tap Social is a craft brewery based in Oxford providing employment for people coming out of the prison system. By providing training, new skills and a steady income, Tap Social has been instrumental in improving their employees’ chances of reintegrating successfully back into society.
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Half of all employers say they wouldn’t employ someone with a criminal record and employment rates for those who have recently left prison are low at just 20%.
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Most leave prison with just £46 for their travel home, meaning many find themselves in a difficult position that leads to reoffending.
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Reoffending rates are 50% and even higher in children leaving the prison system (70%).
Social enterprises such as Tap Social are helping break the cycle and being employed makes a person 70% less likely to reoffend, giving them the chance to find secure housing and rebuild their lives.
Find out more about the story behind Tap Social here.
What Tap Social say about working with Midcounties
“We’re delighted that Your Co-op has chosen to work with us. Its confidence in helping us launch our new range of cans and reach an ever-broader audience is hugely valuable, enabling us to directly support more people moving out of the criminal justice system, and raise awareness of the barriers individuals face as they re-enter society after prison.”
Matt Elliott, Director of Tap Social
How can you support them?
You’ll find a range of Tap Social ‘Criminally Good’ beers at our food stores in and around the Oxford area so pick some up next time you’re passing to support their good work.
The Tap Social team also run a number of live music and comedy events, brewery tours and tastings and even brewing lessons (Covid restrictions allowing). Find out more by clicking here.