Cornwall's School for Social Entrepreneurs celebrates the graduation of its first 15 students
‘Social enterprise is a sector with limitless potential, powered by people motivated by a need to right wrongs,’ says Alastair Wilson, chief executive of School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE). ‘And the only way to learn the business is to run one.’
‘If there isn't a light at the end of the tunnel, turn it on yourself’*
On 12 February 2010 the first 15 students at Cornwall's SSE graduated at a ceremony held at the Eden Project. The success was celebrated with a typically challenging keynote address from Tim Smit – SSE patron and founder of the Eden Project, itself a social enterprise – as well as inspirational talks from Carolyn Webster (chair, Cornwall SSE Steering Group) and Carleen Kelemen (director, Convergence Partnership Office).
Cornwall SSE is a partner in the Cornwall Works for Social Enterprise Convergence ESF programme, co-financed through Jobcentre Plus and led by Cornwall Council. Cornwall SSE is managed through the Cornwall Development Company.
Over the year that students spent on the course, they actively worked towards their visions, which include ethical financial services for the unemployed, design and installation of low-cost, high-quality energy solutions, and sustainable living for families with children under 5. Full details of SSE graduates are available to download.
SSE was founded twelve years ago by Lord Michael Young, himself a serial social entrepreneur, and now has nine schools dotted around the country as well as one in Sydney, Australia. The Cornwall branch opened in March 2009.
ESF- Works spoke to Alastair Wilson about the SSE and its methods, as well as the role of social entrepreneurs in our society. Alastair began by saying that the school's underpinning philosophy is that social entrepreneurship is not something you can teach but something you can learn by having a go. He explained that SSE accommodates this with an alternative, non-didactic approach called ‘action learning’, or ‘learning by doing’, which allows students to move projects forward while they are on the course with the full support of the school. Students spend 40 days spread over a year and draw on the expertise of SSE staff as well as that of fellow students and guest ‘witnesses’.
Alastair spoke bluntly about the driving force behind social entrepreneurs. He said most have had a key pivotal experience that acts as the motivation to make change and that their success is coupled to their acute understanding of the problem. ‘There is a culture of hesitancy and paralysis when it comes to making social change. It's always someone else's problem – the council's, the neighbour's, the government's; but if we band together as a community we have all the answers. Social entrepreneurs lead communities and do this more effectively and with more authenticity than state controlled quangos or institutions.’
When asked how SSE goes about recruiting students, Alastair said ‘We look for the rebels and misfits, the grit in the oyster. Those with a reason and personal interest in seeing change. When we see a conventional CV, we need to dig to find out what gets them going. Being a social entrepreneur is not the easiest route, or the safest. So it is not for people who are risk-averse. You need to be pretty driven to make it work.’
Social enterprise has stood the test of time and achieved great things. Think of the Open University and Which? magazine, both set up by SSE's founder, Michael Young, and the Eden Project, established by Tim Smit. The SSE is now in its twelfth year, has weathered the credit crunch and a recession, and is still going from strength to strength. Alastair believes the UK is a world leader in its understanding of how to support and empower people to work in this way, and that ‘social entrepreneurs are even more important in times of huge reduction in public services. They'll find a way for communities to help themselves and SSE can support them with robust proven methodology of how to transfer power to communities. The concepts and ideas behind social entrepreneurship are as valid as they have ever been.’
This positive ‘can do’ attitude was reflected in the acceptance speeches given by all of the graduates as they received their certificates, and it was summed up by Carleen Kelemen (director of the Convergence Partnership Office for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly) who said in her address: “If there isn't a light at the end of the tunnel, turn it on yourself. . . That is what these Fellows can achieve for their communities, and that is why the school and its staff are such a valuable asset to Cornwall.’
The ESF ITM (Innovative, Transnational and Mainstreaming) programme also has a strand on social enterprise, and ESF-Works is interested in hearing from other projects or providers in this field.
* Carleen Kelemen (director of the Convergence Partnership Office for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly)
