Despite being considered an economically advanced country, there are high levels of poverty and inequality in the UK. The gap between the richest and poorest is not only a gap in economic terms but also translates into health inequalities (Marmot, 2010; Marmot et al., 2011).
Donaldson et al (2011) contend that within the UK context the current forms of addressing this issue via government funded organisations and institutions, such as the NHS or the welfare system, appear to have reached the limit of the improvement they can make and new approaches are needed. This reflects some of the discussions around social enterprises which can offer an alternative to traditional business, and government interventions to better address the needs of communities (Mulgan, 2006).
Multi-factional, innovative approaches are emerging within the realm of community development, and social enterprise. This includes the recent emergence of Self Reliant Groups (SRGs) in Scotland whose structures have their foundations in the Self Help Group (SHG) movement in India. This paper explores early findings of research on their impact for participant’s health and wellbeing.
One of the ways that approaches are becoming more innovative is in utilising learning from the global South, this has been of increasing interest over the past 10 to 15 years (MacFarlane, 2006; Maxwell, 1998; Smith, 2009), offering alternative ways of approaching community development and poverty alleviation. A number of organisations have begun using approaches including the sustainable livelihoods approach (SLA) (Hocking, 2003), microfinance (Pearson, 1998) and participatory appraisals (Smith, 2009). A common theme throughout these approaches is social capital, which features heavily in both SLA and participatory appraisals. Parts of these methods explore the use and availability of social capital, acknowledging the key role it can play in improving well-being alongside more practical impacts such as improving economic efficiency and increasing income (DfID: Department for International Development, 1999). Social capital is also present within microfinance projects through peer group lending, but they also have the potential to develop it (Feigenberg et al., 2010).