22 May 2001

FARREN LAUNCHES SCHOOL FOR SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS

"Social entrepreneurs can use the same degree of enterprise and imagination as business entrepreneurs to develop initiatives to solve social problems," Minister for Higher and Further Education, Training and Employment, Dr Seán Farren, said today. The Minister was speaking at the launch of the School for Social Entrepreneurs, at the Brookfield Business Centre in North Belfast.

Dr Farren continued, by saying: "The School will bring the skills and creativity of enterprise creation to the work of the voluntary and community sector and will enable business skills and thinking to improve the quality, delivery and sustainability of community enterprise.

"From its base in Bethnal Green, in London’s East End, the School for Social Entrepreneurs is now working with a wide range of local organisations, around the UK, to establish a network of social entrepreneur programmes. Today’s launch introduces the initiative to Northern Ireland."

Paying tribute to the Flax Trust for embracing the concept of encouraging local entrepreneurial talent to address local social needs, Minister Farren said:

"It is by encouraging innovative thinking that gaps in the market are identified and developed. By using the techniques of enterprise and imagination of business entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs can spot gaps in our social fabric and develop initiatives to fill those gaps.

"The School for Social Entrepreneurs is the vehicle which, with its support networks, will help individuals build self-confidence and commitment to provide innovative solutions to problems in their own community. We need individuals from all communities to work together to address and solve common problems.

"I am happy to endorse the School for Social Entrepreneurs concept and hope that many other organisations throughout Northern Ireland will follow the lead given by the Flax Trust."

Media enquiries to Kevin Mulhern, Press Office, telephone 028 9025 7790 or mobile 07799 711523.

NOTES TO EDITORS

Brookfield Business School is contracted with the Training and Employment Agency to deliver New Deal, Jobskills and Modern Apprenticeship training and is an Open Learning Access Centre. It is part of the Flax Trust, the largest community regeneration project in Ireland.

The School for Social Entrepreneurs is based at 18 Victoria Park Square, Bethnal Green, London, E2 9PF (telephone 020 8981 0300, website www.sse.org.uk) and has been operating in the UK for several years under the patronage of Lord Young of Darlington.