£95,000 available to social enterprises in new award scheme

Social enterprises and community organisations in Tyne & Wear and Northumberland are being invited to enter the Santander Social Enterprise Development Awards for the opportunity to win up to £50,000.

The Awards have been created as part of Santander’s commitment to supporting small businesses in the UK. Social enterprises play a vital role in local communities, helping to deliver social regeneration, and the SEDA scheme aims to help those with the potential to expand their work.

Social enterprises in the region have the opportunity to win £50,000, £30,000 or £15,000 in order to fund one of three community benefits: improving social inclusion, supporting disadvantaged people or creating a greener environment. The Awards are targeted at growing social enterprises and community interest companies, those who need a financial boost to help them increase their impact. 

To enter the competition, organisations can complete a short entry form downloadable from www.santanderseda.co.uk detailing how an award could be used to grow their business to benefit the community. The deadline for applications is the end of September and the winners will be announced in October.

Craig Iley, Santander Corporate Banking Regional Director, said: “At Santander we are committed to investing in and supporting communities in the North East. The Social Enterprise Development Awards will help social enterprises looking to expand to realise their goals, and at the same time support economic development in the region.”

Rob Williamson, Chief Executive, Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland said: “A wide range of organisations in our area are engaged in social enterprise as a means of helping our communities. Through this award scheme Santander will be able to help some of the best in this field have an even greater impact.”       

Alongside the prize money, winning social enterprises will receive access to support from Santander including mentoring programmes, funding for internships and university business courses and training.

Winning organisations will also receive valuable input from the Community Foundation Network which will work with them to assess the social impact of their business and the prize fund on local communities.

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For further information please contact the Santander team at Grayling on Santander@grayling.com or call Grant Richmond-Coggan/Paul Thomas on 020 7932 1868

Notes to editors:

About Santander

Santander is a retail and commercial bank, based in Spain. Founded in 1857, Santander has 90 million customers, around 14,000 branches – more than any other international bank – and over 170,000 employees. In the UK, Santander (formed out of Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and the Bradford & Bingley retail network) has over 1,400 branches, around 4,500 cash machines and provides a full range of retail and corporate banking services to 24 million customers.

About the Social Enterprise Development Award

The Development Award is targeted at established social enterprises and community interest companies (more than two years of trading) looking to grow their business and working for the direct benefit of their community via one or more of the following outcomes:

• Improving social inclusion
• Supporting disadvantaged people
• Creating a greener environment

The Award includes three prizes:

• £50,000 for social enterprises with a turnover of £250,000 - £500,000
• £30,000 for social enterprises with a turnover of £100,000 - £250,000
• £15,000 for social enterprises with a turnover of up to £100,000

The administration of the funds and subsequent assessments are being managed through the Community Foundation Network.

About community foundations

Community foundations make a difference by bringing together local philanthropists and organisations who wish to give money to support their local community with dynamic local organisations. The Community Foundation Network is made up of a movement of 55 community foundations in the UK.

The Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland is the largest in the UK. It acts as a hub for individuals, families, businesses and other agencies that want to give to communities, matching their interests with organisations and individuals seeking funding.