Social enterprises run by people from black and other ethnic minority backgrounds are missing out on help from Government according to a campaigning group. Voice4Change England wants them to get targeted support from Government and the sector.

In a new paper it has highlighted some of the barriers it believes BME social enterprises are facing. Vandna Gohil, director of the organisation, said the companies had a key role to play in tackling social exclusion, building cohesion and creating community wealth and filling the gaps in public service provision by reaching people that other organisations did not. “The social enterprise sector has received significant attention and resource allocation by the present Government but we are concerned that BME social enterprises are missing out on this support,” she said and added: “We want to work with – and influence – the wider social enterprise sector and policymakers, to make sure that the BME social enterprise sector is understood and that support and solutions are tailored to its needs and the barriers it faces.”

Its call for action comes after it found that BME social enterprises were not accessing many new developments in the wider social enterprise sector. Its analysis has shown that the sector faces a range of problems, including a lack of visibility and support, lack of funding, little or no engagement in policy making and limited data on the BME social enterprise sector.