EEDA - Social enterprise support

Social enterprise support

What we do > Economic Participation > Third sector > Social enterprise support

Social enterprise support

Social enterprises are significant businesses in their own right. They can help people excluded from the labour market into work, as well as creating other social, economic and environmental benefits.

EEDA's support for social enterprise includes:

Building Communities

Helping local communities to take an enterprising approach to generating economic and social benefits by purchasing or developing assets. Click here to find out more.

Core funding for Social Enterprise East of England (SEEE)

SEEE is the primary source of knowledge and information about social enterprise in the region. It provides support, training and networking opportunities to social enterprises and seeks to influence policy on their behalf. Read our SEEE case study, or click here to visit the SEEE website.

Community development finance

Community development finance institutions (CDFI) can provide financial services to social enterprises with viable business plans but that are unable to access mainstream services. EEDA is investing £1.1 million over five years in Foundation East to provide a single region-wide service for community development finance. Click here to find out more.

Funding from the Office of the Third Sector (OTS)

After a successful bid, the East of England has been allocated £655,000 over 2007-11 by OTS for social enterprise business support. EEDA, Social Enterprise East of England and Business Link East have worked in partnership to develop a support programme based on the needs of the sector. This includes Business Link vouchers, accreditation bursaries and a series of events around the region. Click here to find out more