University News Last updated 08 November 2013
Birmingham City University is looking to award up to £30,000 to students, recent graduates and staff keen on becoming 'social entrepreneurs'.
Funding is now available for social entrepreneurs; people who have an idea which will make a difference to the community, people's lives or the environment. All ideas (big or small) are welcome with funding available from £500 to £5,000 to develop the next generation of social entrepreneurs.
For the second year running, the University's Innovation and Entrepreneurship team within the Research, Innovation and Enterprise (RIE) department will be helping individuals make a difference as part of the UK's UnLtd Higher Education Support Programme.
To date, £40,000 has been provided to support projects within the University. Projects range from helping vulnerable adults keep in touch with the world, to supporting an environmental photographer to showcase ecological issues affecting the Earth, a project led by graduate, Vladimir Donkov.
During the last three years Vladimir has focused on delivering educational workshops and lectures at universities and schools, raising awareness of the ecological issues affecting the world's glaciers which provide fresh water to millions of people around the world.
The Innovation and Entrepreneurship team is highly experienced in supporting enterprise, and this new programme adds to the portfolio of enterprise and entrepreneurship support available within the University.
Hilda Burke, a Birmingham City University Higher Education Support programme award winner said: "The Higher Education Support programme has really helped me to get my social enterprise, the Accounting in House Mentoring Programme (AIM), off the ground and helped me to empower members of my local community. Without the support from the University I would have struggled to get this off the ground. The team has given me the confidence to make the project a success!"
Michele Mooney, Director of RIE at Birmingham City University said: "I am delighted that Birmingham City University continues to be chosen as a university partner in the UnLtd/HEFCE Higher Education Support Programme. We appreciate how this enables us to support our entrepreneurial students and graduates who want to set up enterprises that have a social mission and contribute to society.
"Many of our students come from and stay in the region after graduating and so their social entrepreneurship is an emerging important contribution to Birmingham and the city-region. This supports our ambition to be the university for a Greater Birmingham."
Professor Mary Carswell, Pro-Vice-Chancellor at Birmingham City University, added: "The social enterprise sector contributes £24 billion to the UK economy with over one million jobs. Our involvement with UnLtd has helped to raise the awareness of our students and graduates about this thriving sector of the economy and is supporting them in making a real difference to society whilst also carving out a successful career."
For further information or to apply for funding, please contact the Innovation and Entrepreneurship team on enterprise@bcu.ac.uk or 0121 331 5252.