€50,000 Fund presented to Social Enterprise Awardees - Dublin City Social Enterprise Awards 2020
To celebrate this years’ awardees and highlight social enterprise development in Dublin, the Dublin City Social Enterprise Awards 2020 took place on Thursday 12th November. Different to previous years, it was hosted as a fully online ceremony in line with government restrictions.
In attendance was Lord Mayor of Dublin, Hazel Chu who delivered the keynote address in which she praised the awardees stating: ‘each of this year’s Dublin City Social Enterprise awardees are actively and innovatively working to address inadequacies, contradictions and underlying issues within our City. They are delivering change, progress and hope to individuals and communities while also bringing about economic, community and policy benefits’.
At the ceremony, 5 awardees received funding from a total pool of €50,000 along with supports which will assist their social enterprises to achieve a greater impact among the individuals and communities that they serve and assist. The issues that the awardees are seeking to address include: diversity, social inclusion, disability, unemployment, mental health, family support, old age care, education and sustainability. As well as addressing these issues, the awardees provide practical help to people who are disadvantaged, those who are particularly far from the labour market or from inclusion in their communities.
Chair of the Dublin City Social Enterprise Committee and MC of the ceremony, Mary Mac Sweeney congratulated the awardees and highlighted the importance of raising awareness of both the awardees and social enterprises in general. She stated: ‘It is so important that we collectively promote the significant impact that social enterprises deliver in local communities and economies. The awardees along with an increasing and dynamic array of social enterprises in Dublin are creating employment, opportunities and improvements where they are based’.
This year’s social enterprise awardees are:
(Further information and links on each awardee is provided below)
A short video of each social enterprise highlighting their role and operations in addressing a social need will be available on LEO Dublin City’s Youtube Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChD5pnX_Y9KBb3afGrZibRw?view_as=subscriber
Further information about the Dublin City Social Enterprise Awards:
The scheme was first established in 2015 through a collaboration between Dublin City Council, Inner City Enterprise (ICE) and the Local Enterprise Office (LEO) Dublin City to provide funding to kick-start the creation and development of social enterprises in Dublin City. The awards are funded by Dublin City Council and the Department of Rural and Community Development and are managed by Inner City Enterprise.
Now in its sixth year, at this year's awards ceremony five social enterprises will be showcased which were selected by an evaluation committee. The programme and competition aims to increase awareness of the important contribution that social enterprises make to building communities, creating employment and developing the skills of the participants who get involved.
The funding awarded to the social enterprises will allow them to further develop their plans and activities and bring the benefits of their social enterprises to more individuals and communities.
Further Information about the event:
The event is organised by various stakeholders in partnership such as: Dublin City Council; Dublin City Social Enterprise Committee; Inner City Enterprise and Local Enterprise Office Dublin City.
The ceremony is part of a series - which represents Dublin's involvement in the European Commission’s: European Social Economy Regions - 2020 Project. The objective of the project is to build networks of Social Economy and Social Enterprise stakeholders and to raise awareness about the Social Economy at regional and local level. To find out more, please visit: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/content/european-social-economy-regions-2020_en
