Since 2013, Legal & General has been supporting social enterprises with the Social Enterprise (SE) Assistant social investment fund, and to date we have offered 44 investments totalling over £1 million. But 2020 has been especially challenging, with the Covid-19 pandemic putting huge pressure on businesses and, therefore, local communities.
We believe our support can and should go even further in these challenging times, so we partnered with the Social Enterprise Academy Wales to offer a one-day Enterprising Leadership programme to our SE Assist portfolio of businesses in Wales as well as the wider Wales social enterprise network in September, bringing some of the most innovative business minds in Wales together. “The Social Enterprise Academy delivers leadership and enterprise programmes across the breadth of Wales, which have a really positive impact on local communities, and also helps empower the people in those communities to realise their full potential by providing the right training and the right support needed to run their business,” explains Lynne Sheehy, Corporate Social Responsibility Manager at Legal & General.
“The Social Enterprise Academy is going to provide people running those businesses huge value, enabling them to be upskilled, providing the right support and the right training that those people need to develop, sustain and run those businesses in the local community,” says Sheehy. “These organisations are seen as vital in driving the regeneration of communities, creating much-needed job opportunities and a vibrant, diverse and inclusive local economy.”