£190,000 available to social enterprises in new award scheme
Social enterprises and community organisations across Greater London, Bristol and its surrounding area are being invited to enter the Santander Social Enterprise Development Awards for the opportunity to win up to £50,000.
The Awards have been created as part of Santander’s commitment to supporting small businesses in the UK. Social enterprises play a vital role in local communities, helping to deliver social regeneration, and the SEDA scheme aims to help those with the potential to expand their work. Already social enterprises from across Merseyside and Lancashire, Birmingham and the Black Country, and Tyne & Wear and Northumberland have benefited from the £95,000 made available to each of the three regions.
Social enterprises in both regions have the opportunity to win £50,000, £30,000 or £15,000 in order to fund one of three community benefits: improving social inclusion, supporting disadvantaged people or creating a greener environment. The Awards are targeted at growing social enterprises and community interest companies, those who need a financial boost to help them increase their impact.
To enter the competition, organisations can complete a short entry form downloadable from www.santanderseda.co.uk detailing how an award could be used to grow their business to benefit the community. The deadline for applications is the 3rd February and the winners will be announced in April.
Sharon Squire, Head of CSR, Santander, said: “We are committed to investing in and supporting our local communities. The Social Enterprise Development Awards will help social enterprises looking to expand to realise their goals, and at the same time support economic development in the regions.”
Cathy Togher, The London Community Foundation, said: “A wide range of organisations are engaged in social enterprise as a means of helping our communities. Through this award scheme Santander will be able to help some of the best in this field have an even greater impact.”
Alongside the prize money, winning social enterprises will receive access to support from Santander including mentoring programmes, funding for internships and university business courses and training.
Winning organisations will also receive valuable input from the Community Foundation network which will work with them to assess the social impact of their business and the prize fund on local communities.
Santander are a Supporting Partner of Social Enterprise UK.