Awards of up to £18,000 are available to help social entrepreneurs across the UK aged 16 and over to start up or grow their idea for a social venture and develop their potential as social leaders.
The charity funds and supports hundreds of individuals each year through its social enterprise support programmes, which are designed to help social entrepreneurs develop as social leaders and start up or grow their idea for a social venture.
Social ventures should:
- Be at least 1 year old and ideally less than 5 years old.
- Be dynamic and ready to grow to local, regional or national scale and have a logical and appropriate plan to deliver this.
- Have a compelling performance to date and/or a logical and appropriate plan for rapid growth to reach local, regional or national scale.
- Not solely exist to secure investment in the year ahead, and
Target beneficiaries predominantly based in the UK.
UnLtd is currently inviting applications to the following programmes:
Starting Up - for social entrepreneurs with an idea or who are in the early stages of development. Starting Up offers:
- Funding of between £500 and £8,000 to support essential start-up costs (please note: this doesn’t include wages).
- Support from an UnLtd Social Entrepreneur Support Manager, and
- Access to UnLtd Connect, a network of skilled experts for advice and mentors.
Scaling Up - for social entrepreneurs to grow their existing social venture to help it make a bigger difference. Scaling Up offers:
- Funding of between £8,000 and £18,000 to support wages and living costs.
- 12 months' mentoring and tailored support from an UnLtd Social Entrepreneur Support Manager, providing advice on operations and growth strategies.
- Expert advice including access to workshops and masterclasses, and
- Connections to investors, corporate partners and other successful entrepreneurs, helping the social entrepreneur to develop their networks.
Please note that 50% of UnLtd’s awards is ring-fenced for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic social entrepreneurs and/or disabled social entrepreneurs.
Applying social entrepreneurs must fulfil the following criteria:
- Be committed to, and have a track record of, delivering local, regional or national social impact at scale.
- Be committed to working full-time in their social venture.
- Be experienced, ambitious and capable of growing their venture.
- Have a realistic growth plan.
- Have identified a social issue and developed a business model that works to solve it, and
- Have a turnover of less than £250,000 in their last financial year.
Further information, guidance and details about how to apply can be found on the UnLtd website.