Since the launch of the Community Shares programme there has been a huge surge of interest in community investment. There has been a tenfold increase in the number of new cases per year to over 40 new cases in the last twelve months. The registration of new IPSs more than doubled in the last quarter of 2009 and recent initiatives have raised more than £42m from over 30,000 community investors.

• As a business adviser, how do ensure that you have the very latest and reliable information in this specialised area?
• Are you ideally placed to advise community and social enterprises increasingly choosing the vehicle of community shares to raise finance?

The Masterclass in Community Shares is an intensive, one day seminar aimed specifically at business advisers in the sector e.g Co-operative Development Bodies (CDBs), development trusts, national third sector agencies and other social enterprise development agencies

Led by Jim Brown*, lead consultant to the Community Shares Programme, subjects covered include:

• A good share offer - how do I know one when I see one (key elements of a successful share offer)
• Strengthening the business model: identifying suitable opportunities for promoting community share offers
• Community building and membership
• IPS legislation and the alternatives: establishing good governance
• Emergent voluntary codes of good practice
• Future training and accreditation for community share advisers
• Creating a quality self-regulatory framework
• Sharing market intelligence
• Future government support and policy context

Dates and Venues
• Wednesday 17th March – Birmingham
Maple House
http://www.etcvenues.co.uk/venues/maple-house

• Tuesday 23rd March – London
Friends House
http://www.friendshouse.co.uk/

• Thursday 25th March – Manchester
Mechanics Institute
http://www.mechanicsinstitute.co.uk/how_to_find-_us.htm

Cost £35 + VAT (£41.12 inc VAT)

To book please
click here

*NB Jim is the principal consultant for Baker Brown Associates, a Bristol-based research and development practice specializing in social enterprise and community investment.  He has written extensively on the topic of community investment, as the commissioning editor of Co-operative Capital and author of Community Investment using IPS legislation, both published by
Co-operativesUK.