Ground-breaking banking initiative puts Not for Profit businesses in line for huge boost

NOT for Profit organisations in Liverpool are set for a huge boost as Bank of Scotland Corporate launches a major groundbreaking initiative.  The £6 million Social Entrepreneur Awards is the biggest ever of its kind in the Merseyside and has been created to encourage and nurture the British organisations that put welfare before wealth and reward those that put the greater good ahead of personal profits.

The Awards: - 2 awards are on offer and entrants must specify which they wish to enter;

1) Up to £5 million free of interest and arrangement fees for 3 years, or a one off cash donation of up to £500,000

2) Up to £1 million free of interest and arrangement fees for 3 years, or a one off cash donation of up to £100,000

The winner of each award will also secure a true ‘money can’t buy’ reward of three days mentoring from one of the UK’s best known social entrepreneurs and the title of "Bank of Scotland Corporate Social Entrepreneur 2009.'

John Taylor, Head of Specialist Banking, Bank of Scotland Corporate in Liverpool, comments;- “There is no doubting the importance of Not for Profit organisations to our economy and I believe passionately that they should be encouraged and nurtured as much as possible.  However, social entrepreneurs are often overlooked and do not receive the recognition of their peers in more commercial businesses and those who generate substantial personal wealth.  Bank of Scotland Corporate has created the £6 Million Social Entrepreneur Awards specifically to recognise those Not for Profit organisations who combine outstanding business acumen with a genuine passion for helping others.  Not only will this award discover the UK’s most exciting and aspirational social entrepreneurs, it will also provide the winner with a level of support that will revolutionise their organisation and allow them to expand their work.”

Kevin Brennan, Minister for the Third Sector, said:- “I know the value of social enterprise having had my first job in one after university.  The Bank of Scotland Social Entrepreneur Awards will help two of the best social entrepreneurs reach the next level.  These businesses, that reinvest their profits for a social or environmental aim, have great potential to help tackle some of the most difficult issues facing our society.

The Government is working to help create a culture of social enterprise across the country.  Part of our work is to ensure that social enterprises have access to appropriate finance and support.  I think it’s great that these awards will help raise the profile of social enterprise and offer great investment packages for the winners alongside expert mentoring.”

Who can enter?

The Social Entrepreneur Award is open to Not for Profit organisations whose primary purpose is to further social or environmental goals, and those who operate for non-commercial purposes and social benefit.  Such organisations cover a vast spectrum, ranging from Charities, Churches and Social Groups, to Public Sector organisations, Schools and Universities.

John Taylor continues;- “We recognise the inventiveness and commitment of those entrepreneurs who operate in the Not For Profit sector and the Social Entrepreneur Awards will make a genuine difference to two of those organisations.

Advice and mentoring from one of the country’s top social entrepreneurs will prove invaluable and, coupled with the financial reward on offer, this will change the face of two organisations forever.”


► For more information and to download an entry form you can visit:- bossocialawards.co.uk. 

► The closing date for entries is Monday, 23 February 2009

► The national final takes place on 25 June 2009

Fair rules for our benefits system

NEW proposals for reforming the benefits system go further than ever before, offering personalised support for every one who is able to work.  The reforms set out a fair deal for people claiming benefits, with virtually everyone expected to do something in return for their benefits.

Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell said:- "These reforms will transform people's lives. 

We will give people on benefits the personal support they need to help them make a better life for themselves and their families.

I believe that for the majority, work is part of the path to that better life which is why our reforms put the individual, and their needs, at the heart of the welfare system.

We will give people the support they need and in return we will have higher expectations on people to take up that support.  We must have a system where the rules are fair for everyone, and everyone knows what the rules are. 

I believe it is wrong to have a welfare system which doesn't encourage people to prepare for or get back to work. 

In future virtually everyone will be expected to do something in return for their benefits."

The proposals, published in the White Paper Raising expectations and increasing support: reforming welfare for the future, implements the reforms set out by David Freud in full and takes forward the recommendations made by Professor Paul Gregg.

The White Paper takes welfare reform to the next logical stage and proposes:-

► to use the 'invest to save' approach Freud proposed which enables private and voluntary sector organisations to pay for support to get people back to work from subsequent benefit savings.

► to implement first steps of Gregg's recommendations making people claiming ESA subject to the 'progression to work' conditionality and mandated to take steps to get back to work.

► to pilot conditionality for workless parents of children younger than currently planned.

► to publish a consultation paper on Housing Benefit reform in the New Year.  We want a fair system - to people on low incomes and the taxpayer - which does not create barriers to work.

► a new fairer benefit rules for problem heroin and crack users.  The new rules will include an allowance for claimants who are drug addicts, in place of other benefits they would normally receive, that demands they address their problem or face sanctions.

► to give disabled people greater choice and control over the support they use to meet their individual needs, with trailblazers in selected areas.  This "right to control" will be a major step toward achieving disability equality by 2025.

Purnell added:- "Now is the right time to introduce these fundamental reforms. 

When times are tough you give people more support not less.

We will not repeat the mistakes of the eighties and nineties when thousands of people were moved further away from employment by condemning them to a life on Incapacity Benefits. 

This only makes it harder for them to find work and get their lives back on track."