University Commended by Council for Commitment to Social Enterprise
The Plymouth-based University of St Mark & St John has been commended by Plymouth City Council Leader Tudor Evans, in recognition of its commitment to social enterprise.
It has become one of only four universities in the UK to have been awarded the Social Enterprise Mark. This makes Plymouth, which was the UK’s first social enterprise city, the only city in the UK with two Universities accredited for social enterprise work.
The Social Enterprise Mark CIC is the UK and international certification authority that safeguards social enterprise credentials. Only organisations that can prove they put people and planet before shareholder profit are awarded a license to display the Social Enterprise Mark.
The University of St Mark & St John is on a new trajectory having secured HEFCE (Higher Education Funding Council for England) funding of nearly £3million to enable the development of new courses, infrastructure, and the estate. It ranks as first in the UK for social mobility and has the highest-ranking graduate employment of the four Universities in Devon and Cornwall, with 95% of graduates achieving employment within six months.
Plymouth City Council Leader Tudor Evans said: “Higher education is at the heart of social enterprise and it’s fantastic to see the University recognised for the public benefit it continues to bring to our communities; through several projects including the increasing work with NHS rehabilitation programmes, the innovative work with Macmillan Cancer Support, and the University’s values which provide a set of guiding principles to enable students of today to become leaders of tomorrow who will address the global challenges of the 21st Century.”
