Member Article

Construction sector training entrepreneur shortlisted for national Social Entrepreneur of the Year award

Profiling the finalists of the 2014 Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award

Siân Workman of London-based Social Enterprise Building Lives has been named among five finalists in the Social Entrepreneur of the Year award run by the School for Social Entrepreneurs.

Building Lives was founded by Steve Rawlings in 2010 to give people the chance to get into construction, an industry he loves. Siân joined the team in 2012 and has helped build the business, grow a huge network of partners, a strong team and expand the offer to unemployed people across London.

The business transforms community spaces in the heart of deprived communities, which have been donated by social landlords, into Construction Training Academies. There are currently eight Building Lives Academies across London, with three more scheduled to launch before year end.

Each Academy trains hundreds of local people a year and prepares them for the construction industry. People who would normally struggle to secure employment in the sector are supported with pre-apprenticeship training followed by a fast tracked 16 month apprenticeship.

The Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award is supported by Lloyds Bank and Bank of Scotland Social Entrepreneurs Programme along with the BIG lottery fund and is delivered in partnership with the School for Social Entrepreneurs. The scheme provides both financial support (grants from between £4,000 - £15,000) and comprehensive learning support including a business mentoring scheme. The programme is designed to support social entrepreneurs in communities and, through them, help stimulate economic growth and regeneration across the UK.

On being nominated for the award Siân Workman said:

“Winning the award would be a fantastic achievement for us and would allow us to say thank you to all our apprentices and partners for their efforts. We would do this through hosting a Star Apprentice Awards Event and rewarding apprentices with specialist tools. We would also use some of the funding to explore opportunities to open Academies nationally.”

Alastair Wilson, CEO of the School of Social Entrepreneurs, said:

“I was blown away at the Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award shortlisting panel, the talent and passion of all the applicants was incredible. Selecting the winner of the £10,000 is a hard task.”

To vote for Siân Workman, visit: www.the-sse.org/SEYA.

Public voting is open now and closes on 31 October. The winner of the Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2014 will be announced on the evening of Wednesday 05 November at a ceremony in London.

To find out more about Building Lives, please visit: www.buildinglives.uk.com or find them on Twitter at: @buildinglivesCI

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Cara J. Stewart .