Leeds Met secures £30k social enterprise grant

Leeds Metropolitan University has been awarded a grant of £30,000 to create and build social enterprise activities through an award scheme, in partnership with charity UnLtd.

Funded by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and UnLtd – a leading provider of support to social entrepreneurs in the UK – the Leeds Metropolitan Enterprise Academy award invites staff and students to apply for cash awards of up to £500 to trial an idea with social impact, up to £5,000 to operate a social enterprise project, or up to £15,000 to really make an impact. The funding will be allocated by Thursday 31 July 2014.

Leeds Met is one of 12 new higher education (HE) partners engaging with UnLtd and HEFCE for the scheme, which is aimed at HE institutions who want to embed support for social venture creation within their organisation.

Katie Rigarlsford, head of the Enterprise Academy at Leeds Metropolitan University commented: “This is a brilliant opportunity to support our talented students and staff in their endeavours to make a difference and create social impact. Many already carry out fantastic activities and we hope this funding can be targeted to allow more people to have a go at social enterprise, as well as helping to grow existing activities and allowing people to achieve even more.

“It is really easy to get involved with the UnLtd initiative, just contact the Enterprise Academy and we will be happy to talk people through the straight forward application process. There is lots of training and support available as well to help people to get started.”

Leeds Metropolitan University has been supporting student and graduate entrepreneurs through its Business Start-Up project for many years.

Whilst this was established in 2002 and has successfully supported hundreds of businesses and many more self-employed graduates, this will be the first time that a dedicated award scheme has been available for social enterprises and people who wish to transform the communities in which they live.