Double delight for Derry as ARC Fitness and Repair and Share Foyle shine at NI Awards

Brought together by Social Enterprise NI (SENI) on the October 23 at the Crowne Plaza, Belfast, winners and finalists from across NI are living proof of social enterprises’ unique grassroots power to tackle inequality and strengthen communities.

Winners from Derry included Best Community Based Social Enterprise, ARC Fitness set up by Social Enterprise Leader of the Year, Gary Rutherford. ARC Fitness gives people practical help, support and motivation for people struggling with substance misuse.

The excellent team at Repair and Share Foyle also got a Highly Commended award for Environmental/Circular Economy Social Enterprise of the Year for their work in repairing, reusing and building a community of fixers across Derry.

The night of the Social Enterprise Awards for NI is always a noisy one, because this is the only time throughout the year that many of these vital, life-changing organisations have the opportunity to shout about what they have achieved.

This evening was no exception, with the room packed full of social entrepreneurs, dedicated staff and many of the beneficiaries of organisations like The Resurgam Community Development Trust, winner of the Social Enterprise of the Year for their nine profit-generating social enterprises that provide employment, training and fund their youth and community work across NI. Habitat for Humanity ReStore won Environmental/Circular Economy Social Enterprise of the Year which helped 138,000 people access low-cost materials to improve their homes, provided a new home for 57 of kitchens and diverted 1600 tons of reusable materials from landfill across Ireland.

While normal award ceremonies celebrate excellence, these awards tell a much bigger story. In towns, cities and rural areas of Northern Ireland, people are being excluded from everyday life, communities are crumbling and hope for a more prosperous future is thin on the ground. The result is pressure on public services that are out of budget and out of the loop on finding the kind of flexible on-the-ground solutions that are second nature to social enterprises.

This year’s winners ranged from Silent Cuts, a hairdresser in Downpatrick for people with learning disabilities or autism, to Artsekta Ltd, a creative intercultural organisation that transforms communities and is home to the Belfast Mela, the largest celebration of cultural diversity on the island of Ireland, an important service given the race riots NI saw this summer.

Each of these organisations saw an issue in society and wanted to find a solution to it and crucially an income stream to pay for it. In a world facing unimaginable challenges ahead, you could argue it’s social entrepreneurs like these that we should trust with our future.

SENI is the leading organisation & networking body for growing, transforming and enriching social enterprises in every corner of Northern Ireland. Formed in 2012 by a group of social entrepreneurs who saw the potential of a network of businesses who put people, place and planet first, SENI has delivered a wide range of support programmes and lobbying to the sector.

Our vision is to help build strong businesses around social purpose so that everyone profits.

Our strategy to achieve this is focused around three areas of activity

• Grow the sector, build its capability, resilience and sustainable success.
• Transform the sector by driving long term system change, innovation and measurable impact right across the social enterprise ecosystem.
• Enrich the sector by telling the world about the impact it has on people and communities.