Prime Minister praises champions of social enterprise

The Prime Minister thanked champions of social enterprise as research suggested the sector is pulling through the recession more strongly than other businesses.

Representatives of various projects were invited to Number 10 as winners of the Social Enterprise Awards were announced.

Gordon Brown told the visitors: "I want to use two words that we don't use very often and they are thank you."

He went on: "All of you here deserve an award for everything that you have done and will continue to do, I know, in service of the community.

"We are talking about not just good work in the community but innovative work in which you change your communities and if you change one life you change the world. Remember that all of you are those people who are changing the world every day."

The winner of the award for best social enterprise with a turnover of less than £1 million was the Brighter Future Workshop in Lancashire.

It teams disabled people up with engineers to recycle old mobility equipment or build new products.

Peter Cousins from the firm said: "We recycle mobility equipment that's destined for the scrapheap and we bring in young disabled people who have been thrown on life's scrapheap, so we recycle people and we recycle mobility equipment."

He went on: "We never expected we would be here. We worked hard on our project for the last six years and we were always told we were good but we didn't believe it. We started off with not a penny and now we've got a large warehouse with nine staff.

"To win this gives us the recognition that we need to expand our operations so that we can help more people in our areas."

Global Ethics, which produces bottled water that puts profits into charity projects, won the award for best social enterprise with a turnover of more than £1 million.

The prize for the best new enterprise went to Bikeworks which encourages more people to cycle and recycles old bikes.

There were also three schools' projects which won prizes: Bruntcliffe School in Leeds, Holbrook Centre for Autism in Derbyshire and St Cuthbert's Catholic Community College in St Helens.

Principal of the college Monica Gallimore said: "We had a set of surplus classrooms that we turned into a hostel and there is now a fully functioning hotel on the school grounds which has become a training opportunity for our students. It's also created employment in the area."

The school has also run a project to get access to computers and broadband internet for more than 200 families in the area.

Pupil Jessica Southward, 15, said hands-on business experience would stand her in good stead.

She said: "I think it will help when I come to apply for jobs because I have more confidence and determination and I think it will be good generally for working life."

The awards were held as research suggested social enterprises are faring well in the recession.

Figures from the Social Enterprise Coalition revealed 56% had increased their turnover since last year, compared to 28% of small and medium-sized businesses.

Award winners from last year, Sunlight Development Trust, provided catering for yesterday's reception.

The trust runs Cafe Sunlight which trains and employs adults with learning disabilities, ex-offenders, and young offenders awaiting release from prison.

Winners who visited Downing Street were all projects based in England, and there will be an online vote to find a UK winner which will be announced on December 3.

There will also be national awards in each category.