Charity seeking Westmeath people with an idea to solve a social problem
Social Entrepreneurs Ireland (SEI) is encouraging people from Westmeath who have an innovative idea to solve a particular social problem to apply for a place on its two support programmes valued at €500,000. Yesterday, SEI launched its national campaign for applications, encouraging people to apply for its two support programmes; the Ideas Academy – aimed at those with an early-stage idea to solve a social problem and the Impact Programme – which provides high-potential social entrepreneurs’ bespoke support to grow their impact and embedded best practice.
SEI seeks out people with unique insight and scalable ideas to social problems. Through a mixture of funding, mentorship, training and a community of changemakers, SEI helps organisations to grow and deepen their impact. Since its foundation in 2004, SEI has supported more than 550 social entrepreneurs around the island of Ireland who have directly impacted the lives of millions of people. SEI does not discriminate in organisational or funding structure and encourages anyone with an idea to accelerate social change in Ireland to apply.
The Ideas Academy has up to 30 places for people with innovative early-stage ideas to solve social problems. The three-month programme will be delivered online in 2023 and will provide participants with the support and direction they need as they take the first steps from idea to action, sparking a new generation of social entrepreneurs. Participants will be supported to clearly articulate, refine and progress their solution, to build skills and accelerate learning in core areas of importance to social entrepreneurs, and to move from idea to action. Participants also have the opportunity to pitch for seed funding at the end of the programme to pilot their idea. Recent alumni of the Ideas Academy include Collinstown social entrepreneur Eliya Lavine, founder of Seed Scholars. Other alumni include The Together Academy, FASD Ireland, Spéire Nua and Education for Sustainability.
There are five places available on Social Entrepreneurs Ireland’s prestigious Impact Programme, aimed at high-potential social entrepreneurs who are looking to bring their organisation to the next level. Awardees will join the nine-month accelerator programme, where they will receive mentorship, bespoke training, and consultancy in leadership development, fundraising, governance, strategic planning, and communications. They will also each receive €20,000 in unrestricted funding to grow their impact and will access to pro-bono support from SEI’s partner organisations. Recent alumni of the programme include AsIAm, Grow Remote, The Two Norries, and Jiminy Eco Toys.
Commenting on the national call for applications, CEO of Social Entrepreneurs Ireland, Tim Griffiths said: “Social Entrepreneurs Ireland, and our dynamic community of supporters, are determined to provide support and help accelerate the pace of social change in Ireland. We believe that there are people from Westmeath who have solutions to social problems, and would encourage anyone with an idea, or who is taking action to make their communities better, to apply to one of our programmes.”
DCC plc, the international sales, marketing and support services group, is the flagship supporter of Social Entrepreneurs Ireland’s national call for applications. Commenting, the Chief Executive of DCC plc, Donal Murphy said: “Over the past twelve years, the team at DCC plc have personally and professionally seen the incredible power and community that Social Entrepreneurs Ireland has had by harnessing the transformative impact that social entrepreneurship has to solve Ireland’s social problems.”
On Thursday, 4th May 2023 Social Entrepreneurs Ireland will host an online information session for potential applicants that will outline the supports available through the two programmes. Participants will hear from alumni of the Ideas Academy and Impact Programme, and will have the opportunity to join a live Q&A session with SEI Programme Managers. More details can be found on socialentrepreneurs.ie or the Eventbrite page.
Applications for the Ideas Academy are open until midnight on Tuesday, 16th May and applications for the Impact Programme close at midnight on Tuesday, May 30th. Interested candidates can apply or find out more at socialentrepreneurs.ie.