The School for Social Entrepreneurs Hampshire held their annual graduation event celebrating their students who have completed the Lloyds Bank Social Entrepreneurs programme 2021-22. The programme supports aspiring social entrepreneurs to run businesses that are both profitable and beneficial to the world.
The event was held on Thursday 13 October at St Paul’s Church, Winchester. It was a joyful occasion, and the church was filled with energy, laughter, and happy tears. In attendance were the Mayor of Winchester Cllr Derek Green, this years’ graduating students, previous graduates of the programme, Action Hampshire staff, and representatives from different communities across Hampshire. Each graduate had the opportunity to speak about the enterprise they have created. Their enterprises span a wide variety of sectors and, underlying each, is the ethos to do good through their activities, processes, and profits. It was heart-warming to see the students speak so passionately about their vision and the cheers from the crowd evidenced the strong support network established during their time on the course and their pride in each other’s achievements.
The 17 new social entrepreneurs will go on to run enterprises that will address some of the biggest challenges facing society today. This year the enterprises include a project which supports improved period health across communities, tackling mental health inequalities in rural and remote communities, helping organisations to communicate more effectively with the deaf, encouraging communities to borrow or share things instead of buying new to encourage us to live more sustainable lives – to name but a few!
We are incredibly proud of all our entrepreneurs this year, and invite you to view the 2022 yearbook via this link!
Speaking to the graduates at the ceremony, Nikki Prentice-Jones, Head of the School for Social Entrepreneurs, Hampshire, said:
“It’s a privilege to be standing here this evening in front of the very social entrepreneurs tackling complex social and environmental problems and designing innovative solutions; you are the people with the ideas, energy and drive to make change happen.” … “It is with real pride that we’ve supported over 200 social entrepreneurs during this time locally rooted in Hampshire and the surrounding counties. Over 10,500 people have benefitted from the social enterprises on the Hampshire programme and in turn this has created hundreds of jobs and brought money and resources to the area. This is an incredible achievement.”
The School for Social Entrepreneurs was founded by social entrepreneur Michael Young and now delivers the learning and support programme nationally offering a year-long course to new social entrepreneurs who want to make their business a success. The School for Social Entrepreneurs Hampshire provides an exciting and challenging programme that brings together people who want to make a difference through social enterprise. It’s practical, rather than academic – all that’s required is a good idea and the drive and commitment to make it happen. The programme offers study sessions on all aspects of running a social enterprise, individual business mentors supplied by Lloyds Bank and a start-up grant funded by the Big Lottery.
Mike Southgate, Chair of the Board at Action Hampshire, says,
“As we come to the end of the current Lloyds Bank Start Up programme, we are actively seeking partners and funding to ensure this successful, worthy and vital programme continues to help develop more social entrepreneurs.”
Action Hampshire are looking forward to continuing to work with and mentor these students as their enterprises flourish.
