News

Today is Social Enterprise Day and Social Enterprise West Midlands is pleased to announce the winner of our regional 'Transforming Lives' photography competition - Birmingham based Sport4Life UK.  

Above: West Midlands' Winner Sport4Life UK

The winning photograph was taken at the Ladywood Games, an event organised by Sport4Life, and shows the unity, friendship, and excitement of the young players.

Delighted to have won James Forrest, Project Manager at Sport4Life said:  “Sport has a real power to engage with hard-to-reach groups and to change people's lives for the better. Friendship, community cohesion, fun and enjoyment, improved health and personal development are but a few of the outcomes we are seeing as a result of our sports coaches working with and alongside local communities, and we are really proud that our photo has embodied all of these benefits in one great moment.”

Shropshire based Skillbuilders CIC is celebrating success as the runner up, with a picture taken at Ludlow Food Festival earlier this year showing a very hands on approach to food technology (below).

Prizes: Sport4Life wins two days free PR consultancy and a case study feature in 'se' (SEWM's new quarterly magazine) and publicity in our Birmingham Post supplement.  Opportunities for national publicity are also planned. Skillbuilders will receive free professional photography to further assist their marketing activity and enable them to promote what they do all year round.

National winner: The West Midlands competition was one of several across England, co-ordinated by the Social Enterprise Coalition, to find the best photographs that could express the transformative power social enterprise has on communities and people.  The overall winner was Upstream, a social care social enterprise based in Devon.  All regional winners' photos can be seen on the Social Enterprise Coalition website.

Social Enterprise West Midlands would like to thank all the competition entrants who took the time to submit their photographs/supporting information. 

Additional information

Sport4Life is also one of five social enterprises to feature in a series of multimedia films launched by Birmingham and Solihull Social Economy Consortium today.  The films provide a real insight into life at the sharp end of social enterprise and have been funded by SEWM's Illuminate Social Enterprise programme.  The films are are available to view online at www.bssec.org.uk/casestudies.html