St Mary’s Supports Social Enterprise Competition

This year, St Mary’s University College, Twickenham is supporting ‘Richmond’s Den’, a social enterprise competition for local people in Richmond. The competition is in its second year and is a joint venture between Richmond Council, Richmond Social Enterprise Partnership and commercial partners. It is open to anyone living in Richmond who has a social enterprise business idea that they want to get off the ground or to those with businesses ideas that would generally serve the borough. This includes students that may not live in the borough. The winner will receive £10,000 towards their project, and there are also two £1,000 runner-up prizes up for grabs. All entrants will benefit from support for their idea, with shortlisted entrants being offered tailored support, workshops, training and advice. The competition is open to anyone in the Richmond Borough who has a business idea with a social or environmental element. All that is required to enter is 500 words about the business. Judging criteria includes business viability, sustainability and social purpose. Entrants that are shortlisted will be supported to develop their ideas further and will have the opportunity to present their ideas to a supportive expert panel in June. The final award evening will then take place on Wednesday 17^th July at St Mary’s Strawberry Hill campus. The deadline for entries is 9am on Tuesday 7^th May. For more information and the entry form, please visit the website or the Facebook page.