The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) is launching a programme to strengthen social entrepreneurship and social enterprises across England’s universities.
Funded by £2m ($3.28m) and outsourced to social enterprise support network UnLtd, the project will seek to encourage universities to act as hubs in support social entrepreneurs from staff, faculty, and from surrounding communities.
The project will aim to unite universities with surrounding institutions, local authorities, and private sector firms to create ‘ecosystems’ that support social entrepreneurship.
David Sweeney, director of research, innovation and skills at HEFCE, said: “Higher education institutions play a vital social leadership role in the wider economy and society. Our successful partnership with UnLtd has enabled institutions to develop expertise in finding, funding and supporting social entrepreneurs. This next phase of work will embed social enterprise support across the sector and put universities and colleges at the heart of work to deliver positive social change in their locality.”
