Announcing the Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2014 shortlist

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1 Announcing the Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2014 shortlist For immediate release, Monday 15 September 2014 Five entrepreneurs graduating from the 2013/14 cohort of the Lloyds Bank and Bank of Scotland Social Entrepreneurs Programme have today (Monday 15 September) been named on the shortlist for its Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award. The shortlist highlights a terrific range of entrepreneurial ideas a programme helping people with disabilities find work, to a project delivering sport and health programmes in school, to a lingerie manufacturer supporting refugees. Each of the five social entrepreneurs has seen significant developments to their business since being enrolled on the programme last autumn. The five finalists on the Social Entrepreneur of the Year shortlist, who are in with the chance of winning the 10,000 grand prize award, are: Shaun Fox Legacy School Sport CIC delivers PE, Sport and Health programmes in school and community settings. PE curriculum support is provided in primary schools plus out of school hours clubs, holiday camps and Bikeability training to keep young people healthy and active Jane Hatton Evenbreak: a specialist online job board run by disabled people for disabled people. Evenbreak helps inclusive employers attract more disabled candidates; helps disabled jobseekers find work and promotes the benefits of employing disabled people Becky John Who Made Your Pants?: a social business based in Southampton, creating jobs for women who are refugees. It takes perfect fabrics left over from the lingerie industry and turns them into gorgeous new pants for women Andy Ross New Caledonian Woodlands: a social & environmental enterprise which benefits both people and the planet. Engages over 1,200 individuals per year on eight projects, focus on tackling mental ill-health and employability (people) and encouraging greener lifestyles (planet) Siân Workman Building Lives CIC: social landlords donate community spaces to Building Lives in the heart of deprived communities. These are then transformed into Construction Training Academies which train hundreds of local people a year, preparing them for the construction industry This year, in addition to the grand prize award of 10,000, prizes of 6,000 and 4,000 will be awarded to the runner-ups, as voted for by the public. Voting opens today, at and closes on 31 October. The winner of the Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2014 Award will be announced on the evening of 05 November at a ceremony in London.

2 Launched in April 2012, the Lloyds Bank and Bank of Scotland Social Entrepreneurs Programme delivered in partnership with the School for Social Entrepreneurs, provides both financial support (grants from between 4,000-15,000) and comprehensive learning support including a business mentoring scheme. The programme is designed to support social entrepreneurs in communities and, through them, help stimulate economic growth and regeneration across the UK. Graham Lindsay, Group Director, Responsible Business & Community Affairs at Lloyds Banking Group said The Lloyds Bank and Bank of Scotland Social Entrepreneurs Programme sits at the heart of our helping Britain Prosper Plan. The five finalists for the Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2014 have particularly demonstrated what we mean by this, through delivering a positive impact to society and bringing tangible benefits to communities, individuals and the environment. In the second year of the programme we re proud to not only recognise the overall Social Entrepreneur of the Year with a 10,000 award for their social enterprise, but, for the first time, we shall also be offering second and third prizes which will help these entrepreneurs continue to Scale Up. We wish Shaun, Jane, Becky, Andy and Sian luck during the campaign and encourage the public to show their support by voting. Alastair Wilson, CEO of the School of Social Entrepreneurs, said: I was blown away at the Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award shortlisting panel, the talent and passion of all the applicants was incredible. The five finalists particularly impressed with their social impact, recent growth and plans to scale up their social enterprises. Selecting the winner of the 10,000 is a hard task and I m secretly pleased that staff can t vote, because the decision is too tough to call! Good luck to all the finalists, I look forward to seeing who the public choose as their winner and the impact that 10,000 will make to one of these brilliant social enterprises This autumn, the second cohort of 274 social entrepreneurs from across England and Scotland will graduate from the Bank s Social Entrepreneurs programme, and in November 2014 the programme will welcome a further 297 entrepreneurs enrolling for the 2014/ 15 cohort. To vote for one of the five Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award finalists, visit: For further information, please contact: ENDS Heather Scott, Lloyds Banking Group, heatherscott@halifax.co.uk / or, Catherine Eastham / Donna McGrory, Four Communications, socialentrepreneurs@fourcommunications.com/ Notes to Editors:

3 About the Lloyds Bank and Bank of Scotland Social Entrepreneurs Programme The partnership with the School for Social Entrepreneurs sits right at the heart of the Lloyds Bank and Bank of Scotland business strategy to Help Britain Prosper. It is one of Lloyds Banking Group s flagship programmes designed to support social entrepreneurs in communities and, through them, help stimulate economic growth and regeneration across the UK. The School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) has 17 years of experience designing and delivering action learning programmes for social entrepreneurs. SSE currently delivers programmes in 12 UK locations and has international schools in Ireland, Canada and Australia. For more information on the SSE, its programmes and impact visit Launched in April 2012, the Social Entrepreneurs Programme provides both financial support (grants from between 4,000-15,000) and access to a comprehensive learning support programme including a business mentoring scheme. Over the five years to 2017, the programme, which is also supported by The Big Lottery Fund, will support around 1,300 social entrepreneurs to Start and Scale innovative social organisations. About the Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2014 shortlist The following have been shortlisted for the Lloyds Bank and Bank of Scotland Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2014: Legacy School Sport CIC was founded by Shaun Fox in Kirklees, West Yorkshire in The social enterprise delivers PE, sport and health programmes in school and community settings. Legacy Sport promotes Healthy Active Lifestyles for young people and adults by providing PE curriculum support for primary school teachers; providing breakfast, lunchtime, after school clubs and holiday camps to keep young people active; and co-ordinates and delivers Bikeability training for young people whilst promoting sustainable travel. Legacy Sport works with a number of strategic partners, including the Youth Sport Trust and Kirklees Council. The award will contribute to Shaun recruiting a full-time operations and commercial manager who will be able to identify and manage additional partnerships and help expand the business. Evenbreak was developed by Jane Hatton in 2011, providing a specialist online job board run by disabled people for disabled people. Prior to becoming disabled, Jane was a Diversity Trainer and promoted the benefits of a diverse workforce to employers. After becoming disabled with a degenerative spinal condition, she was able to see the issue from both sides and developed the business, working whilst lying flat with a laptop suspended above her. Evenbreak has three social aims: to help inclusive employers attract more talented disabled candidates; to help disabled jobseekers find work with employers who would value their

4 skills; and to promote the benefits of employing disabled people. Jane would use the award to raise awareness of Evenbreak, funding two part-time telemarketing people disabled people working from home to encourage more employers to advertise their vacancies with them. Becky John set up Who Made Your Pants? in 2008, from an idea she d had two years previously. In addition to really liking Pants, Becky really didn t like wearing clothes made in sweatshop conditions and was also aware that women who are refugees are alone for the majority of the day which leads to personal and social problems. With this in mind, she developed a socially focused business creating manufacturing jobs for women marginalised by their status as refugees. Who Made Your Pants? turns perfect fabrics left over from the lingerie industry into gorgeous new Pants for women who want to know who made them. Who Made Your Pants? sells direct to customers through its website. The 10,000 first prize would enable Becky to increase the employment hours of her Office Manager and Production Supervisor thereby increasing production, sales and employment. New Caledonian Woodlands: is a social & environmental enterprise which benefits both people and the planet. People projects are focused on supporting adults experiencing mental ill-health and social isolation towards employment, while planet projects are focused on encouraging people to switch to greener lifestyles. Founded by Andy Ross in 2006, New Caledonian Woodlands currently engages with over 1,200 people per year. Project activities include planting new woodlands, managing old ones, making furniture from trees felled by hand, pressing hand-picked apples for juice and learning more about our environmental impact and how to reduce it. The award will enable Andy to invest in the development of the Edinburgh green hub site that is the new base for New Caledonian Woodlands and which will underpin much of the development of the organisation. Siân Workman joined Building Lives CIC less than two years ago. The business transforms community spaces in the heart of deprived communities, which have been donated by social landlords, into Construction Training Academies. There are currently eight Building Lives Academies across London, with three more scheduled to launch before year end. Each Academy trains hundreds of local people a year, preparing unemployed people into pre-apprenticeship training, followed by a fast-tracked 16 month apprenticeship in the construction industry. Should Siân win the 10,000 first prize, the award would be spent on hosting a Star Apprentice Awards Event as well as providing all apprentices with their own specialist tools. They will also use some of the funding to explore opportunities to open Academies nationally. To vote for one of the five Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award finalists, visit:

5 Voting opens on Monday 15 September and closes on 31 October The winner will be announced at a ceremony in London on the evening of Wednesday 05 November 2014.

Social Entrepreneur of the Year shortlist announced

Social Entrepreneur of the Year shortlist announced Lloyds Bank and Bank of Scotland Social Entrepreneurs Programme unveils shortlist of five entrepreneurs in the running for 10,000 Award Online voting