Their reason for doing that is very simple. Besides providing services to people who are more inaccessible to the stadium on matchdays, they wish to plug the gaps in the current network and serve the community. Currently, the social enterprise already holds a community bus permit and is now going to seek funding from sources such as Merseytravel or Liverpool council to launch its services.
Hopefully, this would be accomplished and I believe that not only its beneficial to the people, but to the football club and the economy as well as these would mean more people are willing to go to the stadium to either watch the match, or even buy the merchandises there.
From what this article has stated, a social enterprise need not be a business that in our perspective, help out the marginalized people e.g. the disabled, ex-convicts, etc. They can be there as well to generally help the public whom in this case are people who does not have "easy" access to the stadium. I feel that this idea is really good, and I hope that they win against Chelsea today. :D
Who knows? Maybe if this social enterprise is set up in Singapore, more people are willing to go watch the S-League at Jalan Besar Stadium (for example)? Honestly, nah, I dont think so. But it's still worth a try!
Read the full article here: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2011/11/01/social-enterprise-to-provide-bus-services-to-poorly-served-areas-of-merseyside-100252-29695851/#ixzz1eEbY6iSd
Read the full article here: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2011/11/01/social-enterprise-to-provide-bus-services-to-poorly-served-areas-of-merseyside-100252-29695851/#ixzz1eEbY6iSd
Reference :
McDonough, T. (2011, November 1). Social Enterprise to provide bus services to poorly-served area of Merseyside. Retrieved from http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2011/11/01/social-enterprise-to-provide-bus-services-to-poorly-served-areas-of-merseyside-100252-29695851/
McDonough, T. (2011, November 1). Social Enterprise to provide bus services to poorly-served area of Merseyside. Retrieved from http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2011/11/01/social-enterprise-to-provide-bus-services-to-poorly-served-areas-of-merseyside-100252-29695851/
Hi Kenneth,
ReplyDeleteInteresting social enterprise presented in your post here because to be honest, I don't think I have ever since a social enterprise that is transport related. Sadly, even though it is a rather interesting concept for this social enterprise is rather poor, simply because of its social cause; to provide services to people who face problems in accessing Liverpool's stadium on match-days.
The beneficiaries in this case are the people who wish to access Liverpool's stadium; the fans of Liverpool FC. While it may seem like quite a good idea, what is the social value in this social enterprise? While it is stated by yourself that a social enterprise does not necessarily need to provide social benefit to the marginalized, I do believe that the very least it should do is to address unmet needs in society.
In this case, bus services do exists in the social enterprise's targeted areas, they are just not well served by major operators. With this info in mind, is it right to say that transport to Liverpool FC's Stadium is an unmet need in society? Also, consider that tickets to football matches are not cheap. If the people can afford such commodities, why is there a need to increase the amount of bus transport in these areas. Shouldn't these people, who are able to afford these tickets, also have the financial capability to afford their own transport, such as cars or taxis for example?
Regards,
Jefred