by Nikki Wilson

Friday afternoon and evening saw the graduation of the first London cohort from the Lloyds Banking Group Social Entrepreneur Programme and the crowning of our very first “Social Entrepreneur of the Year”. Jacquie Johnston-Lynch fought off stiff competition to win the award for her dry pub “The Brink”. To find out more watch her video along with those of the other finalists.

As a staff team we were all given the opportunity to attend the event and it was a truly inspirational afternoon. I was amazed at the diversity of enterprises that the Fellows had created and the levels of success that they had achieved, often in a relatively short space of time. Many of the original ideas had arisen from personal experiences and it was great to see how this group of social entrepreneurs had the passion and energy to build on them in such positive ways.

As a staff member with a role that has minimal interaction with the students it’s sometimes difficult to feel connected to the “real work” that the School is doing, supporting Social Entrepreneurs to make their ideas a reality and to grow them into successful businesses. Events such as Friday’s graduation are a welcome reminder and a fabulous opportunity to gain an insight into the experiences of the students and fellows.