Schools from across Scotland have been rewarded for creating innovative ideas which aim to deliver social good
School pupils from across Scotland have been learning about social enterprise.
The 12th annual Social Enterprise in Education Awards, sponsored by Kibble and Big Issue Invest, took place on Wednesday (19 June) at the Assembly Rooms in Edinburgh.
This year, innovative young people across Scotland have been setting up businesses to tackle the social and environmental issues that matter to them. Forty schools received a Social Enterprise in Education Award from Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Education & Skills, John Swinney MSP to recognise the success and sustainability of their social enterprises.
Social enterprise examples from this year include; creating a range of mindfulness products to promote positive mental health; teaching computer programming to the local community to tackle unemployment; and running a weekly community café to reduce isolation and loneliness among the elderly.
Pupils created their social enterprises as part of the Social Enterprise in Education programme, which was created as a partnership between the Social Enterprise Academy and the Scottish Government in 2007. The programme empowers Scotland’s young people to affect social change in their communities while developing key core employability and entrepreneurial skills for the future.
In March 2019, 14 schools from across Scotland also took part in creating and selling a special edition of The Big Issue magazine, sharing their social enterprise journey with readers across the country.
Swinney said: “These young people have been bringing the Curriculum for Excellence to life in an excellent way, developing essential skills for the future by setting up their own social enterprises and having a positive impact in their schools and communities at the same time.
“It was a pleasure to present at the awards and my congratulations go out to all of the successful schools that took part in this innovative initiative that is empowering our young people to change society.”
Emily Mnyayi, from the Social Enterprise Academy, said: “We would like to say a huge thank you to all the young people who have worked so hard over the last year, and the teachers and schools who support them.
“The Social Enterprise Academy are excited to work with even more schools next year as we work towards our target of offering this opportunity to every school in Scotland and begin pilots in other countries around the globe. We look forward to seeing more ripples of positive change started by young people in every community.”
