The awards are here to shout about the businesses that give back. The ones that enrich communities and make a contribution to society, those social entrepreneurs who use their business acumen to tackle some of the world’s growing social and environmental problem.
We’ve been supporting the Consumer Facing Award, which goes to a successful, growing social enterprise with a clearly defined brand and social mission that delivers a product or service to the public.
With only a few more days to get your vote in, we’ve been profiling some of the shortlisted nominees to choose who you think should walk away with the award at the ceremony in central London on November 23.
Belu started with a simple idea – there was a better way to do business by reducing our environmental impact and using all the profits to fund clean water projects. Now, donating more than £2.2m to date to WaterAid – Belu offers the most ethical choice in water service, from bottled mineral water, to filtration systems with reusable carafes and refillable bottles. Carbon-neutral and donating ALL of their profits to WaterAid, Belu has already transformed over 140,000 lives since it began in 2011.
The Alnwick Garden is an iconic visitor attraction, committed to improving the community by creating hundreds of jobs, contributing millions to the local economy and delivering an inspirational community programme. From the elderberries which aims to address loneliness in Northumberland to the sprouts, which enhances education for younger people across the North East of England, their good work is deeply rooted in the community.
Since its launch in 2015, Change Please has helped 35 formerly homeless people transform their lives, training them as Change Please baristas so they can sell fresh coffee from mobile carts on the high street. Baristas spend six months on their cart, earning a full London living wage and learning valuable social and vocational skills to help them re-enter society and move on to full-time work. Change Please recently launched their coffee nationwide, so you can pick up a bag of their special ground blends from Sainsbury’s stores as well as The Big Issue Shop! Each blend is hand-picked by a Change Please barista.
This Christmas, 3.8 million people across the UK will be facing extreme poverty. Thousands of those struggling will turn to selling the Big Issue as a vital source of income - they need your support to earn and lift themselves out of poverty.
