The UrgencESS fund, which has helped nearly 5,000 small associations to cope with the crisis, has reached its target

POSTED 27/09/2021

The UrgencESS fund, which has helped nearly 5,000 small associations to cope with the crisis, has reached its target

In January 2021, Olivia Grégoire, Secretary of State to the Minister of the Economy, Finance and Recovery, in charge of the Social, Solidarity and Responsible Economy, mobilized an emergency fund of 30 million euros for social and solidarity economy (SSE) structures with fewer than 10 employees, hit by the crisis.

This financial aid, ranging from 5,000 euros for structures with 1 to 3 employees to 8,000 euros for structures with 4 to 10 employees, has helped 4,866 structures experiencing economic difficulties related to the current turmoil, most of which are associations. The impact on job preservation is concrete: thanks to this support, nearly 16,000 jobs have been saved.

Deployed by France Active and its 35 associations, UrgencESS has made it possible, in addition to financial aid, to support solidarity structures in maintaining their activity. They benefited from a diagnosis of their economic situation and received advice to help them find new financing solutions, notably thanks to the measures deployed within the framework of France Relance.

Some of them also received support from the operation’s partners, such as the network of Local Support Facilities (DLA) or KissKissBankBank, the pioneer of participatory financing which belongs to the La Poste Group.

Olivia Grégoire

Secretary of State for the Social, Solidarity and Responsible Economy

The structures that we have been able to support through the crisis are better equipped to engage in the recovery, which concerns all economic actors in the country. We must now continue our policy of supporting SSE companies by developing new sustainable financing compatible with the solidarity dimension they carry on a daily basis.

Pierre-René Lemas

President of France Active

With UrgencESS, we have been able to provide a more than tangible response to associations as well as to companies fully mobilized on the development of social ties, culture or ecology. And we have also enabled them to think about their model for rebounding from the crisis and to project themselves into a fully supportive recovery.

Here are a few examples of structures
which benefitted from Urgencess

Solikend – Innovating for a local, off-season and solidarity tourism Pyrénées Atlantiques

Solikend is an innovative project in the hotel industry in favor of the associative world, built on a unique hybrid economic model on the territory. Yoann Magnin, the creator, wishes to deploy the first solidarity reservation via a unique platform that references the “citizen hotels in New Aquitaine” and gives a part of the money as donations for the associations. This online reservation service for associations is based on several principles: a system for rapid use of donations, a system designed in the interest of off-season tourism players and a price modulation (between 75 and 125%) allowing different user profiles to participate in the collection of donations. With 7 jobs created in 2021, the structure could not afford to slow down its development with the pandemic: the UrgencESS bonus allowed them to stay the course and initiate a new phase of development of solidarity tourism in the Basque Country.

Triporteur à cartouches – Recycle your printer cartridges in Hauts-de-France !

The association of the Cartridge Carriers, known as “TAC”, was born in 2011 under the impulse of 3 people, with the objective of raising awareness of the general public to the environment and eco-citizenship. Based on the observation that many printing wastes are still thrown away in the common household waste, TAC organizes collections of used printing cartridges in Hauts-de-France from companies, associations, communities and individuals to recycle them. Very committed to the ecological niche, it carries out these collections in soft mobility with a three-wheeler in the city of Lille and in electric vehicles outside the city. Thanks to the latter, the association conveys the image and the concept to the general public. Weakened by the crisis, the structure benefited from an UrgencESS bonus of 5000 euros in April.

In the 19th district – A Chacun ses vacances

Located in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, A Chacun Ses Vacances is an association that offers leisure activities and stays for people with mental disabilities, regardless of the type and degree of mental disability, without discrimination. The association works with small groups: it always proposes activities or stays with less than 10 members. The supervision goes from 1 leader for 1 member to 1 leader for 3 members maximum. It offers regular activities : tennis, horseback riding, workshops and visits, and evening outings (restaurant, concert, bowling). Like all tourist activities, A Chacun Ses Vacances has seen the pandemic shake its cash flow and benefited in June from the UrgencEss scheme to secure its jobs.

Tibert éditions : In Allier, illustrated books, a spirit of collection

Since 2016, Tibert Editions is dedicated to the rediscovery of beautiful illustrated books. Working on the entire chain of the book, the structure aims to revalue the craft of publishing and the beauty of the book as an object. The confinement, the closing of bookshops and the primacy of certain large stores for the sale of books has raised many fears for Tibert éditions which had never known a cash flow problem. The UrgencEss bonus came to secure the cash flow in April to allow the structure to hold on before the reopening.

Sitaphy: integration of the disabled in the Yonne.

Since 2002, the Sitaphy association has been developing a manufacturing activity for wooden medieval toys designed to promote the social and professional integration of disabled workers within an Integration Workshop (ACI). It produces nearly 40,000 pieces per year, in a sustainable development approach using only local wood. Very much rooted in its Burgundian territory, the structure sees its role as an actor of social cohesion recognized in the local integration networks. It contributes to the collective approaches of the ACI in the Yonne, runs various workshops and has established various partnerships with structures in the field of disability. Sitaphy received an UrgencESS bonus last May at the height of the crisis.