Social enterprises in West Wales and the Valleys will benefit from a £7.1 million project to help them grow, the Deputy Minister for Regeneration, Leighton Andrews, announced today.

Mkombozi, meaning “liberator or emancipator” in Swahili, works to stem the tide of Tanzania’s street children through a holistic programme of protection services, research and campaigning.

Mencap has won a national charity award for its new brand. The UK’s leading learning disability charity, celebrated winning the Brand Development category at the Third Sector Excellence Awards (Tuesday 18 November) against tough competition, including Leonard Cheshire and Alzheimer's Society. The charity rebranded in April 2008 to reinforce its values about putting people with a learning disability in the centre of everything it does.  

Social enterprises' operating environment will become more difficult amid the financial tsunami, Secretary for Home Affairs Tsang Tak-sing says, adding the Government will bolster support for them.

 Amid the vibrant hubbub of Social Enterprise Day, the Government today backed social enterprise as the model to show how business with a conscience can be done. The Minister for the Third Sector, Kevin Brennan, spent the day experiencing the energy and innovation of the social enterprise movement.

This week's Weekly was published on Monday 17 November 2008.  Should you have missed this issue you can read it here: 

Funding announced for innovative social enterprise projects

Marking Social Enterprise Day, Care Service Ministers Phil Hope today announced that six projects will share £450,000 to establish new social enterprises which will help the elderly, the disabled and the homeless, and nurses will get more help to set up services that will help their patients.

A £1 million fund to help aspiring social entrepreneurs launch new ventures is ready to begin operating from March next year.

Capacitybuilders, a non-departmental public body funded by the Office of the Third Sector, has announced a £5 million capital grants programme which will invest in the refurbishment and enhanced use of buildings being used as third sector local resource centres.

Many children in Kenya, especially those between the ages of two and five, do not have access to basic education and recreational centres. This problem is more prevalent in the slum areas.