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Wellbeing Project awarded £30,000 in Santander Social Enterprise Enterprise Development Award
The Wellbeing Project, a social enterprise and community organisation based in St. Helens, has been awarded £30,000 by Santander in the Social Enterprise Development Awards.
The Wellbeing Project provides a range of community based activities for everyone who would like to improve their mental wellbeing. The social enterprise runs self-help groups, training sessions, educational programmes, and hobby and interest groups.
The award money will help the project expand its operations more widely across Merseyside and will also be used to invest in the licensing of products and services that can be marketed for sale to other regions of the UK.
Mark Swift, Director of The Wellbeing Project CIC, said: “Winning this award is such an endorsement of all we've been working to achieve with the project. People living with mental health problems are one of the most socially isolated and stigmatised groups in society. This award from Santander is going to help us to continue to help them, now and in the future.”
Colin Jamieson, Relationship Manager, Santander Corporate Banking, said: “The judges agreed that The Wellbeing Project CIC’s growth plan to deliver their essential services across Merseyside and license products shows great drive and ambition.”
The Awards have been created as part of Santander’s commitment to supporting small businesses in the UK. Social enterprises play a vital role in local communities by helping to deliver social regeneration and the SEDA scheme aims to help those with potential to expand their work. The three winning enterprises are Blackpool Carers Centre, The Wellbeing Project and Squash Nutrition who have won £50,000, £30,000 and £15,000 respectively.
Alongside the prize money, winning social enterprises receive access to support from Santander including mentoring programmes, funding for internships and university business courses and training.
Winning organisations will also receive valuable input from Community Foundation for Merseyside which will work with them to assess the social impact of their business and the prize fund on local communities.
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For further information please contact the Santander team at Grayling on Santander@grayling.com or call Grant Richmond-Coggan/Paul Thomas on 020 7932 1868
Notes to editors:
About Santander
Santander is a retail and commercial bank, based in Spain. Founded in 1857, Santander has 90 million customers, around 14,000 branches - more than any other international bank - and over 170,000 employees. In the UK, Santander (formed out of Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and the Bradford & Bingley retail network) has over 1,400 branches, around 4,500 cash machines and provides a full range of retail and corporate banking services to 24 million customers.
About the Social Enterprise Development Award
The Development Award is targeted at established social enterprises and community interest companies (more than two years of trading) looking to grow their business and working for the direct benefit of their community via one or more of the following outcomes:
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Improving social inclusion
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Supporting disadvantaged people
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Creating a greener environment
The Award includes three prizes:
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£50,000 for social enterprises with a turnover of £250,000 - £500,000
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£30,000 for social enterprises with a turnover of £100,000 - £250,000
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£15,000 for social enterprises with a turnover of up to £100,000
The administration of the funds and subsequent assessments are being managed through the Community Foundation Network.
About Community Foundations
Community foundations make a difference by bringing together local philanthropists and organisations who wish to give money to support their local community with dynamic local organisations. The Community Foundation Network is made up of a movement of 55 community foundations in the UK.
About The Wellbeing Project CIC
The Wellbeing Project Community Interest Company was set up in 2006 in Halton
and St Helens. We provide a range of community based activities for everyone who
would like to improve their mental wellbeing. www.wellbeingproject.co.uk