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Celebrating Social Enterprise – Social Enterprise Day 2009

19 November 2009

Today is Social Enterprise Day and there are hundreds of events happening across the country to celebrate and raise awareness of Social Enterprise. Cabinet Office Ministers are out and about taking part in events across London. 

Dawn Butler, Minister for Young Citizens and Youth Engagement, was at St Matthew’s Academy this morning to help launch the One Big Idea Project. The project is a competition for students in schools to develop a product that can be sold in the UK with 100% of the profits going towards combating a social or environmental problem in Malawi. The winning product will be chosen in February and go into development for UK wide sales in March.

Tessa Jowell - Minister for the Cabinet Office, Angela Smith - Minister for the Third Sector and Dawn Butler will join the Prime Minister and leading social entrepreneurs at a lunch reception at 10 Downing Street to mark Social Enterprise Day. The first round winners of the Social Enterprise Awards for England will be announced at this celebration.

Angela Smith will then go on to the Caledonian Club to launch the new Higher Education Institution's (HEI) Social Enterprise Awards programme at ‘Dare to be Different’, an event held by UnLtd and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). The programme provides aspiring social entrepreneurs in HE institutions with funding and support to develop social entrepreneurial projects and social enterprises.

Angela Smith will also visit Bikeworks CIC, a community cycle centre and nominee for ‘Best New Social Enterprise’ at the Social Enterprise Awards.

To end a busy day of visits and launches, Angela will attend Future 100 hosted by Striding Out at The Hub - Kings Cross. The Hub is an acclaimed social enterprise venue, a fitting place to recognise the achievements of leading new social entrepreneurs.