England now has a new programme aimed at improving the world for entrepreneurs. The School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) launched Trading for Good aiming to unearth social entrepreneurs and community business leaders. The five-year programme is supported by Power to Change and The Dulverton Trust, in partnership with The National Lottery Community Fund, which awarded almost £5m. The funding seeks to provide support and education to more than 650 social entrepreneurs and community businesses across the country.
Social Enterprise UK has reported that approximately 131,000 social enterprises are present in the UK, which sell products and services in support of a central social or environmental mission. These enterprises collectively employ 2.3 million people with a turnover of around £78 billion. For the last financial year, of a collective £1.2bn profit, £1bn was reinvested in these enterprises’ social and environmental missions. This sector has proven resilient despite the difficult conditions which have hit the whole economy.
Trading For Good aims to connect social enterprises and community businesses focused on and led by local communities with resources, funding and networks they did not have before. The programme offers a learning programme online and in locations in London, Birmingham and Manchester alongside Match Trading grants. Dean Hochlaf, head of policy at Social Enterprise UK, said social enterprises were an “incredibly important part of the economy” as they create sustainable growth and shared prosperity.
The SSE is offering Trading For Good as a learning project at various stages of social enterprises and community businesses development, from starting up to ready to go to the next level. Cohorts of people will come together to learn and collaborate and then continue sharing ideas in the future. The other four programmes include Share Shed, Act for Autism and Beats Bus Records and Girls Into Coding. These programmes help people face challenges and navigates funding issues allowing innovation, collaboration and transformations
Read the full article on Positive News here: Read More