Social Enterprise support

What is a Social Enterprise?

Social enterprises are community businesses that work primarily to improve the lives of people and create positive social change. Their core objective is to achieve a social, societal, or environmental impact. They frequently work to support disadvantaged groups such as the long-term unemployed, people with disabilities, travellers, etc., or to address issues such as food poverty, social housing, community education or environmental matters. Some also operate in the creative sector and local tourism initiatives.

There is a wide spectrum of social enterprises in Ireland, from local community-based enterprises to larger enterprises, some of which trade internationally. They create employment and support many Government policy objectives in areas such as labour market activation, health care and the environment.

Like other businesses, social enterprises pursue their objectives by trading in goods and services on an ongoing basis. However, any surpluses generated by social enterprises are re-invested into achieving social objectives, rather than maximising profit for their owners.

The Inishowen Social Enterprise Network (ISEN) was established in 2003 and involves working with approximately 20 social enterprises across Inishowen to grow and realise their potential.  We do this by working together to identify needs and opportunities and by providing training, mentoring and shared spaces to learn from each other. We are part of the national network of Social Enterprises, SERI, advocating for and raising the profile of our enterprises in Inishowen. We also worked with the sector to develop a Social Enterprise Strategy and Action Plan