AVA Magazine July 21

AVA | July 2021 5
Your Love Rara CIC
Aileen Longino
AVA Development Officer
specialising in Social Enterprise
During this last year we have seen a
stream of social enterprises starting up in
Aberdeenshire - many people are looking
to address their work/life balance by starting
up an entrepreneurial business. Some of these
businesses become social enterprises and take
the legal form of Sole Trader, Community Interest
Company, Company Limited by Guarantee or
a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation
(SCIO) to name a few. But what is a Social
Enterprise?
A Social Enterprise is an organisation that is
carrying out some form of trading whether it be
with goods or services. The difference between
a Social Enterprise and a charity is that Social
enterprises aspire to generate an independent
income and are nor reliant on funding.
Your Love Rara is a Community Interest
Company run by the amazing Zara Grant.
It has been developed to support Mental
Health and Wellbeing for children/young
people and adults within the Aberdeen
and Aberdeenshire area.
Their ethos and goal is to create a
creative, inclusive environment supporting
mental health, imagination and bringing
community together whilst inspiring others.
Your Love Rara programmes are with
qualified coaches supporting and
teaching resilience, methods to support
anxiety and depression and personal
growth - never more important in our
current climate.
Through social inclusion they aim to raise
funds to organise and support inclusive
environments for all children and adults
to be able to access this service. This
includes but is not limited to children and
adults with disabilities, disadvantaged
households and diverse cultures within
the local area. They want to continue to
support local charities with fundraising
events and spreading joy within the
community.
Visit: www.loverara.co.uk
Key components of a social enterprise include:
• Developed with strong social and/or
environmental purposes at its core
• Having an Asset Lock that ensures any profit
is reinvested into the organisation.
• A dissolution clause that stipulates that on
wind up, assets are transferred to a similar
organisation with similar social purpose.
• An aspiration for financial independence
through income generated trading.
At AVA our Social Enterprise specialist Aileen
Longino works with a wide variety of social
enterprises across Aberdeenshire. We would like
to feature three AVA Members who are all social
enterprises but who all have a different legal
structures.
Photos courtesy of Your Love Rara CIC