School for Social Entrepreneurs opens in Devon, at Schumacher College

Dartington and The School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) are delighted to announce the opening of the latest branch of the SSE here in Devon. The SSE in Devon will be based at Schumacher College, Dartington.

The SSE provides support to pioneering individuals who are acting entrepreneurially for social benefit and positive change, rather than for personal profit. As part of its rapid growth in the UK, and with recently secured funding from the Office of the Third Sector at the Cabinet Office, a Devon SSE is being set up by a coalition of county wide organisations, led by The Dartington Hall Trust.

This coalition of Devon organisations – The Dartington Hall Trust, Devon County Council, Torbay Council, South Devon College, Business Link and Cosmic – have matched the grant from the Office of the Third Sector with a combination of cash and in kind contributions. Representatives from these organisations met recently at Dartington for the first meeting of the Devon SSE Steering Group.

Alastair Wilson, CEO of SSE UK said:
“We are hugely excited to see social entrepreneurs being supported in Devon to both learn and develop new skills and to create sustainable, effective organisations. Huge thanks and congratulations are due to all the partners and individuals who have been a part of making this happen; and, as a former SSE student myself, I look forward to meeting the social entrepreneurs who will start the first programme in January 2010”

Devon SSE is now recruiting its first group of students, with the learning programme running from January to December 2010. Interviews will be held in November 2009, which is an important opportunity to discuss with prospective students their history, the nature of their idea and to establish whether they possess the necessary personal attributes and entrepreneurial spirit to be offered a place on the programme. Individuals need to be based in Devon and working on their idea for a minimum of three days per week, with a view to it becoming full-time. If selected on the programme, students commit to 40 days direct contact time with the Devon SSE learning programme – a combination of action learning sets, one to one tutorials, expert & witness sessions with experienced practitioners and social entrepreneurs, fact finding visits to successful organisations focused on social benefit and a three day residential.

The SSE connection with Dartington is long standing. It was founded in 1997 by the late Michael Young (Lord Young of Dartington), a serial social entrepreneur and former Dartington Trustee, who also founded The Consumers’ Association, Which Magazine, The Open University, The Institute of Community Studies (now The Young Foundation) and over 40 other enterprises. Since 1997, SSE has supported hundreds of people to create sustainable organisations focused on achieving positive social change. It delivers practical action learning programmes aimed at helping develop the individual entrepreneur and their organisation simultaneously: the approach, and belief, is that social change is people-powered, and that the most valuable assets and resources we have are human ones.

Vaughan Lindsay, CEO of The Dartington Hall Trust said:
“We are delighted to have re-established our links with the SSE by launching their latest school in Devon, here at Dartington. At a time when innovative solutions to social problems are becoming more important and relevant, the launch of Devon SSE will enable outstanding individuals with resilience, drive and passion to help shape a better and more equitable society for us all.“

Devon SSE is also currently seeking further financial support for the programme beyond Year 1, to ensure a long term sustainable future to support more emerging social entrepreneurs in the county.

To find out more about Devon School for Social Entrepreneurs, either as a prospective student or potential funder, please call Matt Griffiths, Project Development Manager on 01803 847066 or email devon@sse.org.uk. Further information about the work of SSE as a whole, can be found at www.sse.org.uk

Devon SSE appoints Learning Manager

Devon School for Social Entrepreneurs is delighted to announce that Kate Hewett has been appointed as its first Learning Manager. Kate is currently Training Manager for The Partnering Initiative at the International Business Leaders Forum based in London and was previously Product Manager at Freeserve. Kate has also studied yoga in India, Nepal and Greece and maintains an active freelance career as a yoga teacher.

Schumacher College is part of the Dartington Hall Trust, a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and as a charity (company no. 1485560, charity no. 279756). Registered office: The Elmhirst Centre, Dartington Hall, Totnes, Devon TQ9 6EL, UK.