Over £1 million a year to mobilise UK’s social entrepreneurs

A growing movement of community entrepreneurs will be equipped with the tools to change hundreds of thousands of people’s lives across the UK in a five-year programme launching this week.

Each year 150 inspiring individuals across eight locations will share over £1m in funded training and grants through their local School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE).

The Lloyds Banking Group Social Entrepreneurs Programme has been made possible thanks to a major funding commitment from Lloyds Banking Group and additional investment from Nominet Trust.

Simon Hughes MP will help get the recruitment drive underway at a special launch reception at the House of Lords on 26 April. He said: “I am very pleased to support the launch of the Lloyds Banking Group Social Entrepreneurs Programme. This programme has the potential to empower many individuals around the country to develop lasting solutions to poverty and disadvantage in their communities.”

Alastair Wilson, Chief Executive of the School for Social Entrepreneurs, said: “To tackle the huge social and environmental challenges that we face today, we need to recruit inspirational people with entrepreneurial flair from our communities – and give them the best tools to succeed.

“This is about real people striving to make a difference in real places. Social change doesn’t happen by itself. It needs action, organisation and leadership in those communities.

“Our vision is to build a force of community entrepreneurs who will unleash the potential for people powered change in their communities, leading initiatives that bring business skills and social aims together to lift the fortunes of hundreds of thousands of people.”

Paul Turner, Community and Sustainable Business Director at Lloyds Banking Group, said: “Through our branches and businesses, Lloyds Banking Group has the potential to touch every family and community in the UK – helping them thrive is the cornerstone of our Community Investment Programme.

“Social Entrepreneurs, with the right support and funding, have the passion, foresight and drive to become a powerful force for change and make a visible and long-lasting difference in their local area.  We are proud of the support we are able to provide. “

Annika Small, Chief Executive of Nominet Trust, a UK-based social investor that brings together and supports people committed to using digital technologies to make society better, commented: “We’re keen to encourage entrepreneurs to make imaginative use of digital technology to design new approaches to big social challenges. In the same way that the internet has transformed communications, retail and work, we believe it can support radically new, more effective solutions to long-standing social problems and improve lives and communities. 

“As the UK’s leading social investor in this space, we hope that successful graduates from this programme will work with us to scale up their initiatives.”

What is the scheme about?

The Lloyds Banking Group Social Entrepreneurs Programme opens for applications on 26 April. Applications will close on 25 May and delivery will begin in October 2012.

The programme will support 150 social entrepreneurs* each year, for five years, with comprehensive support from the SSE through its innovative ‘action learning’ programmes, plus grants of £4,000 and £15,000 and an annual £25,000 award:

• 130 ‘Start Up’ awards: grants of £4,000, a place on a Start Up SSE learning programme delivered in eight UK locations and access to networks and continued alumni support following their completion of the programme;
• 20 ‘Scale Up’ awards: grants of £15,000 and a place on a Scale Up SSE learning programme delivered at SSE headquarters in London, plus access to networks and continued alumni support following their completion of the programme; and
• 1 ‘Lloyds Banking Group Social Entrepreneur of the year’ award, given to a Scale Up applicant who demonstrates outstanding potential. The award includes a place on the National Scale Up SSE learning programme, access to networks and continued alumni support following their completion of the programme and a grant of £25,000 to scale their organisation.

Facts, statistics and personal stories

The training will be delivered by SSE’s eight franchise schools in the following locations: London, Yorkshire and Humber, North West, Bristol, East of England, Cornwall, Hampshire and Scotland.

Since 1997, SSE’s participants have a 20% higher survival rate compared with traditional businesses, according to an independent research report**.

The research also suggests that the programme could benefit more than 800,000 people and generate up to 2,500 jobs with a value of £11m.

Junior Smart, founder of SOS Gangs Project, an award-winning organisation that helps young offenders move their lives forward, said: “I used to be seen as an ex-offender but now I’m an entrepreneur and a youth leader, thanks to the skills I gained from the SSE.”

Jacquie Johnston-Lynch, who founded The Brink, a non-alcoholic bar in Liverpool that helps people recovering from addiction, said: “The SSE boosted my sense of self and helped my organisation to give the community a real boost – touching the lives of many, many people.”

To apply for the awards programme, please contact:

Alexa Kellow

0207 089 9120

lloyds@sse.org.uk

http://www.the-sse.org/lloydsbankinggroup

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

* A social entrepreneur is someone who is committed to addressing a social need or problem in their community or in wider society and who displays entrepreneurial characteristics in doing so.  Social entrepreneurs may work in social enterprises, ethical businesses, governmental or public bodies, or the voluntary and community sector. 

** These figures are based on extrapolating the findings of the School for Social Entrepreneurs 1997-2011 Impact Evaluation Report (2011) by New Philanthropy Capital. This evaluated the impact of SSE’s core programme, which is similar in structure to the Lloyds Banking Group Social Entrepreneurs Project. It found that:

• The five year survival rate of SSE Fellows’ (alumni) organisations is 20% higher than that for UK businesses.
• Total value of jobs created by SSE Fellows is estimated to be £13m per year.
• On average, each organisation set up by an SSE Fellow recruits two full time and three part-time workers after graduation. The report estimated that organisations set up by SSE fellows benefit over 800,000 people per year, delivering outcomes to a range of beneficiaries, including children, young people, older people and disadvantaged groups.

About Lloyds Banking Group's Community Programme

• Lloyds Banking Group is the biggest corporate investor in UK communities investing some £85m during 2011
• With 30 million customers the Group knows it has a clear role to play in helping communities thrive
• Lloyds Banking Group Charity of the Year as chosen by colleagues is on target to raise over £2m for Save the Children
• Lloyds Banking Group has provided £510 million of funding to the Lloyds TSB Foundation and Bank of Scotland Foundation over the past 26 years
• The Group has a £4 million financial capability and personal money skills programme – Money for Life – which is targeted at the Further Education, Adult Community Learning sector
• Lloyds Scholars provides students, from below average income families, with a complete financial and vocational support package allowing students to study at leading academic and research universities
• The Lloyds Banking Group Community Fund aims to unlock the potential of young people by supporting UK communities at the grass roots. In 2012, the Group will make awards of £5,000 to up to 140 local good causes across the UK

About the School for Social Entrepreneurs:

• Provides action learning programmes to support hundreds of social entrepreneurs each year to start up and grow social and community organisations in 10 locations across the UK, Australia and Canada. For more information visit: www.the-sse.org.
• Was founded by the late Michael Young (founder of Which?, Consumers Association and Open University).
• As a strategic partner to the Cabinet Office, SSE leads the five organisation Social Entrepreneurship Partnership Consortium

More information on the SSE, its programmes and its impact, is available at www.sse.org.uk

For more information on SOS Gangs Project visit: http://bit.ly/zAbBoR

For more information on The Brink visit: http://bit.ly/xx3n7t

About the Nominet Trust

• Nominet Trust is a UK registered charity, which believes in the power of the internet to improve lives and communities.
• The Trust brings together, invests in and supports people committed to using the internet to create social and economic value.
• Nominet Trust has invested in hundreds of projects since its inception in September 2008, providing business support as well as financial investment, seeking to connect projects to prospective partners who can help increase their reach and impact.

For more information on Nominet Trust and the projects it has invested in visit: www.nominettrust.org.uk