Plunkett Foundation voted finalist in top national awards
Plunkett named top social enterprise supporter in England
Plunkett Foundation has been named the top social enterprise supporter in England in the Social Enterprise Awards, run by the national body Social Enterprise UK.
The Foundation fought off stiff competition from the likes of Business in the Community (BITC) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC UK) to be selected by a panel of 15 expert judges from across the sector, including Baroness Thornton,
Shadow Equalities Minister in the House of Lords and Karen Lynch, Chief Executive of ethical water brand Belu. It will now go on to compete for the UK title at the awards ceremony on 10th November at Lord’s Cricket Ground.
Peter Couchman, Chief Executive of the Plunkett Foundation, said: “Plunkett has a far-reaching impact on rural communities across the UK thanks to the passion and commitment of its staff. Each member of the Foundation is dedicated to helping rural communities to make life better for themselves through enterprise – be it setting up a community-owned shop, helping a community think innovatively about broadband or transport issues, or helping existing co-operative enterprises become more sustainable. To be named the top social enterprise supporter in England is recognition of the hard work put in by everyone and something we’re very proud of.”
Founded in 1919 by the Irish rural pioneer, Sir Horace Plunkett, the Foundation began life as a traditional co-operative developer which pioneered applying social enterprise approaches in rural communities, and today is the only national body supporting the network of 286 community-owned shops that exist across the UK. But its passion for helping rural communities extends beyond community shops; it supports communities to set up a range of co-operative and community enterprises, from pubs and energy schemes to fishing co-operatives and farming enterprises. It also provides a voice for rural communities to engage with issues at government level, ensuring policies exist that help, not hinder, rural community enterprise.
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For more information contact Katherine Darling on 01993 814382 or email katherine.darling@plunkett.co.uk.
Notes to Editors:Plunkett Foundation (www.plunkett.co.uk) helps rural communities through community-ownership to take control of the issues affecting them. The focus of our work is: helping rural communities to set up and run community-owned shops with a range of partner organisations; supporting rural communities to establish a wide range of other community-owned rural services; promoting and supporting the development of community food and farming enterprises; advocating and raising awareness amongst policy makers, support organisations and rural communities themselves of the ability of rural communities to take control through community-ownership of the issues affecting them. Founded in 1919, the Plunkett Foundation is a national organisation based in Woodstock, Oxfordshire.
