Mental Health Care is a key partner with Sunderland Housing Group in this initiative whose main objective is to foster local enterprises. This will be achieved via the creation of new micro businesses and emerging social firms.

The partnership will form The Sunderland Social Firm and Enterprise Trust which will be supported by an Enterprise Manager employed by Mental Health Care. The Enterprise Manager is concerned with the development of a range of social enterprises in which disabled people will work. The whole purpose is to move disabled people from care dependency towards employment and independence within a supportive framework.

The social enterprise developed from this approach will be substantially independent but will remain structurally and culturally linked to the Sunderland Social Firm and Enterprise Trust in a supportive ’family’ of enterprise.

The Sunderland Social Firm and Enterprise Trust will focus on enterprise and real employment creation, but it will be flexible in terms of its organisation and operation so that it can accept future contracting with Sunderland Housing Group or externalisation of services from public sector bodies such as the NHS and local authority.