Office of the Third Sector Homepage
Last updated: 19 November 2009
Social Enterprise Day aims to inspire the next generation of social entrepreneurs and celebrate and recognise the work of current social entrepreneurs in the UK.
This is the first year of the Social Enterprise Awards. To read about the winners from the Enterprising Solutions Awards, which from 1998-2008 were the awards for the social enterprise sector, please go to Enterprising Solutions Awards - Social Enterprise Coalition [external website].
Social enterprise day also forms part of Global Entrepreneurship Week: a week which aims to unleash the enterprising ideas of young people from over 80 countries to address some of society’s biggest problems. Some of the events taking place on Social Enterprise Day include:
Launch of the next ‘One Big Idea’ Project: ‘One Big Idea’ is a competition run by Make Your Mark for young people to develop a new product for the brand ‘One’. One is owned by the social enterprise, Global Ethics, they have a high profile with popular brands such as ‘One water’ and ‘One Condoms’. Young people will have until February to design the next one product that could be sold in the UK in Co-op shops, the profit from these sales will then be used to address a social or environmental problem in Malawi.
The idea for the product has to be directly related to the issue that needs addressing; for instance, last year’s winning product, ‘One Water,’ is a sustainably sourced bottle of water sold in the UK, and the profits are used to create pumps in Africa to provide clean water for local people.
Social Enterprise Day Reception: A reception is being held at 10 Downing Street to celebrate and showcase the work of the Third Sector and its up and coming leaders, and mark Social Enterprise Day. It will be attended by a cross section inspiring leaders from the social enterprise and wider third sectors. The catering for the reception is being provided by Sunlight Café, one of the social enterprises owned by Sunlight Community Development Trust which is run by Peter Holbrook, one of the Social Enterprise Ambassadors.
The England winners of the Social Enterprise Awards will be announced at the reception. The winners will be attending the reception. Senior Cabinet Office Ministers will attend and meet the winners of Awards.
Dare to be Different: UnLtd and the Higher Education Funding Council England (HEFCE) are using Social Enterprise Day to launch their HEI Social Enterprise Awards programme. The programme will provide aspiring social entrepreneurs in higher education institutions (both staff and students) with funding and development support to develop social entrepreneurial projects and social enterprises. Angela Smith, Minister for the Third Sector will be attending to launch the HEI Social Enterprise Awards.
The Future 100 awards: These awards are being held in the evening at the acclaimed social enterprise venue, The Hub at Kings Cross, to recognise the achievements of young entrepreneurs who are leading the way in running a sustainable business. The awards are hosted by Striding Out, and supported by Business in the Community [external website], the Media Trust [external website] and Business Link [external website].