Comment 6 on 1000 citizen yunus forums & Capitalism's Future

Yes, I was living there at the time of the riots and know that it was lack of opportunity combined with hard nosed policing that set things off around Railton Road. From the sound of it, this networking has all happened since I left the area 2 years ago. Before then social enterprise, as a full cost recovery model would draw blank expressions. I have less than fond memories of trying to get the attention of our APPG on microfinance and the one for social enterprise, neither wanted to know about "No Loss" models. Ours had been delivered to Tomsk, Siberia in the wake of the Defense Enterprise fund losses, pitched at the Clinton administration as "lets try something different from trickle-down".

I like the LLP model too, I think there's scope for using it within what we've been planning in Eastern Europe, unfortunately I can't start one on my own.

Our role in Ukraine as a social business is part advocacy part activism, very much part of the "Orange" movement and it's stance against corruption. we'd been there, or my colleague had more accurately in 2002 when challenging something being skimmed off before anti-corruption became more fashionable left him hung out to dry by those who'd supported him thus far.

What we're pitching in Ukraine is a mixed strategy comprising a less that full cost recovery component (childcare reform & social enterprise faculty), with a full cost recovery (microfinance) and a more than full cost recovery (community broadband) component. In my mind there's scope for various models of investment. I believe the LLP would work well in an additional component, that of delivering affordable housing.

They are responding in that they've announced a network of rehab centres for the disabled and just last week the national scale adoption program.

As we stand, my colleague has been blocked from returning to the UK, we face a wall of obstruction from the "Not invented here" mentality of social enterprise and government in the UK and are being driven into the ground by those who don't pay for our services. Time to bang a few self-serving heads together!