News from RISE: Social Enterprise Coalition confirms its support for the Social Enterprise Mark

Jonathan Bland, Chief Executive of the Social Enterprise Coalition stated:

�RISE has done great work creating and piloting the Social Enterprise Mark in the South West. The Coalition believes that supporting further development of the Mark will help to clarify the common values of social enterprise, to communicate those values more widely, and thus raise the profile of social enterprise to key audiences.�

Lucy Findlay, Chief Executive of RISE:

�I am really pleased and look forward to working with the Coalition on the roll out of the Social Enterprise Mark nationally�

The Mark offers social enterprises a simple way to inform customers about the wider social or environmental impacts they provide and it gives social enterprises a competitive edge in these economically-challenging times. For customers, it offers an instantly recognisable label to identify social enterprises; reminding them that by supporting a social enterprise they are helping to create benefits for people and the planet.

The Social Enterprise Mark is the only label of its kind that is open to all types of social enterprises that successfully meet a set of qualification criteria. The Mark is being piloted in the South West before being rolled out nationally within the next year or so.

The Social Enterprise Mark is funded by the National Lottery through the Big Lottery Fund and it is sponsored by the South West Regional Development Agency, The Co-operative Group and Triodos Bank.

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