France/Rennes. The State at the bedside of the "little ones" of the social and solidarity economy

Secretary of State Olivia Grégoire came to Ille-et-Vilaine, in Rennes and Vitré, on Friday 22 January, to launch a €30 million national scheme dedicated to small associations and businesses in the social and solidarity economy.

"That's good news. I find it interesting to target small associations such as ours, which has fewer than ten employees," admits Camille Huet, head of the association La Cohue, which runs a space for conviviality and services for businesses and residents in the Maurepas district, a priority area of Rennes.

On Friday morning, it was sitting at the same table as several other local associations, deputies and local elected officials in the prefecture of Brittany. They were all invited to meet Olivia Grégoire, Secretary of State for Social, Solidarity and Responsible Economy, who came to present a 30 million euro emergency fund.

"The associations log on to www.urgences-ess.fr, where they are asked about twenty very concrete questions to find out what aid they are entitled to, explained Olivia Grégoire in Ouest-France. Those who have not yet received anything will be given priority. Structures employing 1 to 3 employees will be able to receive up to €5,000, those with 4 to 10 employees will be able to receive up to €8,000. The funds will be released within a fortnight".

"We are a young association, we started in November 2019. What was complicated in 2020 was that we had no comparison, we sailed on sight, by the week," continues Camille Huet, head of the association la Cohue. On the other hand, we had support from the Rennes metropolitan area and the city of Rennes. This new aid will enable us to see how we can develop in 2021".

The emergency fund presented by Olivia Grégoire was set up with France Active, an associative network for business creation and solidarity financing that claims to support "more than 7,500 projects per year for a more sustainable and inclusive economy".

"France Active has financed a little over 50,000 businesses over the past 30 years. And since the summer, we have set up a support system, about 400 people are available to companies to intervene quickly, says Pierre-René Lemas, national president of France Active.We have also launched a solidarity bridging loan, for up to 18 months, as well as an investors' club with a 100% fund.100 million fund, the aim of which is to provide small businesses in the social, solidarity and responsible economy with equity capital".

It is not necessarily easy to find one's way through all this aid. Fortunately, Olivia Grégoire has thought of everything. It is not enough to say what you are entitled to, but how," insists the Secretary of State, inviting associations to "make sure that they are aware of what they are entitled to. The Secretary of State insists, inviting associations to visit her ministry's website, where a real primer of everything they are entitled to has been prepared for them. It's a 30-step document, but you'll find everything that the State and all the local authorities are doing to help you".

Around the table, not all the representatives of structures were necessarily part of the system. "We have six services and more than 80 employees," concedes Nicolas Jaffray, president of the Parentbouge association in Rennes, which develops "early childhood" services with atypical working hours adapted to the needs of families. But he also has a mandate in the governance structure of "Reso solidaire, the social and solidarity economy hub in Rennes.

It is therefore important to be familiar with this system in order to relay it as much as possible to those who need it the most," says Nicolas Jaffray. There are other associations with less than ten employees that do high-quality work by involving parents, with social projects for the care of very rich young children. This is also the diversity of the associative sector. And for me, we have every interest in relaying and understanding all the aid made available by the government and local authorities".

Source: www.ouest-france.fr