Social Entrepreneurship Catalyst Awards application
deadlines announced!
Ultd are looking for inspiring individuals who have innovative and entrepreneurial solutions to some of the biggest challenges facing communities, wider society and the world. Individuals who have the ambition, determination and drive to really deliver their project and create exciting social change!
They are now in the final rounds of funding and support for the Catalyst Awards. Catalyst Awards are for up to £5,000 to start up and develop your project. The Award can be used to pay for the running costs of your project (including equipment, stationery, room hire). We aim to be as flexible as we can in matching the Award to your project’s financial needs. UnLtd will support you in evolving your project idea through a dedicated Development Manager, who will design a six-month support package tailored to your needs. There are only four rounds remaining to submit your applications. The deadlines for applications are: Thursday 4th November
Thursday 25th November
Thursday 6th January
Thursday 3rd February
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to get your project idea off the ground and drive forward your vision of social change!
To find out more about the process and criteria, please visit www.SE-Awards.org.uk
Venturelab is a start-up centre in Leeds offering services such as mentoring, funding, workshops and office space. They’re entirely privately funded by a local entrepreneur, Justin Whitston, and are actively looking to help out young entrepreneurs in anyway they can.
This is a great funding opporunity for entrepreneurs (they’ll also provide a rent free pad in Leeds city centre and living costs for the duration of their programme).
Apply now!
Entry requirements are that candidates have graduated from a UK university within the past 2 years or are in their final year. There are no restrictions on degree subject or classification, they’re looking for someone who they believe they can work with above all. Full eligibility criteria is here: http://graduateentrepreneur.com/blog/2010/09/are-you-eligible-for-our-graduate-programme/.
“An ingenious way of bringing art to the people” Alan Yentob
“Helping local individuals and groups to work with councils in converting less glamorous spaces to good use” The Times
The Empty Shops Network is a loose coaltion, an informal collective, a timely coming together of meanwhile art galleries, pop-up shops, short-term community spaces, informal activity hubs, and temporary studios. Some empty shops projects last a week, some six months; all believe that meanwhile activity is valuable to local communities.
In 2010, it’s estimated that about 13% of the UKs shops are sitting empty and that one in five empty shops may never be used again. Members of the Empty Shops Network help new businesses start on the high street, bring visitors back to Britain’s town centres and help the local community turn private spaces into public places.
Run jointly by John King, Royal Holloway’s Entrepreneurship Careers Adviser and Seb Butt, Royal Holloway Entrepreneurs’ Training Director, Startup Wednesdays is an exciting new course being launched next week, so don’t miss out on securing a place!
This FREE, yes FREE interactive 9 week course shows you how to:
Find an idea
Build a team
Plan the first year
Set up a website
Market and sell products and services
Raise investment
Handle accounts and legal structures
…and much much more
This course is suitable for anyone who has an idea they want to make happen, doesn’t have an idea but wants to have one, or just wants to find out how to create their own career.
Here’s a quote from a highly entrepreneurial PhD student at Royal Holloway:
“I have a link here for a TED talk by Prof. George Whitesides, a legendary chemist from the US. He is talking about a diagnostic kit technology developed in his lab for applications in the developing world. The simplicity of the whole idea is inspiring for any person interested in the sciences. Ideas such as this do a lot for me, I am hoping it might do the same for others. ”
Last Thursday, we saw a lot of amazing pitches at our Dragons’ Den, but in the end, only one could win. The jury had a hard time choosing the best pitch, but after a long deliberation chose Louis Mech, with his VEO Eyewear pitch.
We’d like to thank everyone who entered, and we hope that you all take your idea further, even if you didn’t win our Dragons’ Den.
Let me now let Louis present his idea:
My name is Louis Mech and I am a third year management student, however more interestingly I am also the founder of VEO a social enterprise sunglasses brand. Every time someone purchases a set of VEO sunglasses, VEO donates a pair of Adjustable Eyewear to a person in need. As I am sure few people will know what Adjustable Eyewear is, let me just take a moment to explain the incredible/bizarre/very fun invention. Adjustable Eyewear was created by Professor Josh Silver as a way of distributing prescription eyewear to people in some of the most remote parts of the world, where optometrists do not exist. These somewhat Harry Potteresque glasses have syringes on the side, and with a few simple twists the recipient then has working prescription eyewear. Once they have found their prescription the person then simply cuts off the syringes and then has normal working prescription glasses.
I was very excited to win the RHUL Dragons’ Den, as last year I entered the RHUL Mini Grants competition and lost. So this summer I worked hard to further develop the business and refine my pitch. I guess all the hard work paid off.
VEO is going to use the £1000 prize money to purchase its first 50 sunglasses. We are going to sell 10 sunglasses to prove that the business model is viable, and that VEO does what it says it is going to do, that being donating the adjustable eyewear to people in need. We have two verbal commitments for magazine articles, so we will be sending them both 5 pairs of sunglasses so that they can do their photo shoots. The last 30 sunglasses will be used as samples for retail stores.
I would like to say thank you again to Royal Holloway Entrepreneurs for helping me develop my idea and a big thank you for the RHUL Dragons’ Den prize money that has allowed me to get VEO off the ground. Also may I say if any one likes what VEO is doing or would like to learn more about the social issue that is refractive error please go to our website at veoeyewear.com , join our facebook group by simply searching ‘VEO Eyewear’ or follow us on twitter at ‘VEO4eyes’. Ghandi famously said “an eye for an eye and the whole world goes blind” VEO says “glasses for glasses so the whole world will see, THAT’S THE VEO PROMISE”.
Want the chance to work with the likes of Peter Jones from Dragons Den or Lily Allen? Want to make your CV stand out and gain some great work experience in some of the hottest start-ups and small businesses from around the world? If you’ve answered “Yes” then Enternships.com is for you! We have hundreds of exciting roles available all year round which in the past have included the opportunity to work with high-profile entrepreneurs & celebrities.
Did you know that you can also work for a start-up alongside your studies…intrigued? Then check out this Business Development Partner role in the fast-growing internet start-up 1Eat: http://bit.ly/c8nqRT Or you can view all the current roles here: http://bit.ly/cNzy3Y
Follow us on Twitter (@enternships), sign up for our newsletter and join our group on Facebook to make sure you stay in the know about the latest opportunities on offer!
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Social Entrepreneurship Catalyst Awards application
“An ingenious way of bringing art to the people” Alan Yentob
