The University of Cumbria has secured funding to help develop social enterprises across the region.
Over the next twelve months, the university will work with UnLtd to develop a support structure which places social entrepreneurship at the heart of the institution, as well as giving staff and students the chance to start up a social venture.
Social entrepreneurship is a rapidly growing movement within the Higher Education (HE) sector and the University of Cumbria has been chosen as a pioneering partner for the UnLtd and Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) HE Support Initiative.
Social enterprises exist to address a social or environmental need within local communities. Profits are reinvested into the social enterprise or the community.
The University of Cumbria is one of 54 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in England to partner with UnLtd on this initiative to embed a culture of social entrepreneurship within their institution and across the sector.
Over the next year the university will establish a social entrepreneurship culture which will allow staff, students and recent graduates to start up social ventures and create social change.
Michele Lawty-Jones, Enterprise and Business Relations Manager at the University of Cumbria said: “We have secured £20,000 in funding which will be a great benefit to our university community and an opportunity to support social enterprise ideas that will deliver lasting benefits across Cumbria and North Lancashire.
“The university is committed to both employability and enterprise and this project will allow us to further develop our vision for the future.”
An opportunity to make applications for social enterprise funding will be available in the coming months, with awards ranging in size, dependent on the scale of the idea and how well advanced it is.
For more information about the project please contact: Michele.Lawty-Jones@cumbria.ac.uk
The final list of all selected HEI partners can be viewed at
www.unltd.org.uk.
Posted on Thursday 13 September 2012