19 November 2009 was Social Enterprise day, and to commemorate, four more social enterprises have received investment for the Young Foundation’s Learning Launchpad, a partnership with independent education foundation, Edge. Out of the 275 applications received, the four that have been chosen are:

Space Unlimited - A creative consultancy based in Scotland where the consultants are teenagers!

Space Unlimited helps companies and public organisations to gain real insights from young people. The young people step out of their comfort zones and take responsibility for a real project for a real customer.

Project 390 – a partnership with IKEA to get the ‘hard to employ’ into work

390 is the internal code that IKEA gives to furniture which is damaged but recoverable and this is a concept which has been applied to the disadvantaged young people that take part in the scheme. Project 390 brings together public sector bodies and local charities to provide IKEA with productive staff, fully supported by a team of youth workers.

Ignite – a women’s leadership programme

Ignite brings executive coaching to young women so that they can understand themselves, their values and ambitions. The young women gain confidence and access to a number of opportunities to realise their potential.

Social Links – utilising the social networking skills of young people to create value for creative businesses

Social Links is a training and brokerage service that helps young unemployed people gain experience by deploying their self-developed social networking skills in a professional context in small creative companies.

The Learning Launchpad is a fund created by the Launchpad at the Young Foundation, working in partnership with independent education foundation Edge, for speeding up the creation and development of social ventures aimed at young people.

To find out more visit:

www.learninglaunchpad.org

blog.learninglaunchpad.org

www.twitter.com/learnlaunchpad