2021 Making a Mark competition winner

Today, we are excited to reveal the final winner of our 2021 Making a Mark competition, which celebrates and recognises the incredible impact created by social enterprises during the Covid-19 pandemic.

We usually announce the competition winner at a special awards reception at our annual conference, but, like many events over the last year, this celebration has been moved online. This year, we are excited to be working with our media partner Pioneers Post to showcase the fantastic stories of impact that characterise the social enterprise sector.

We are delighted to announce the winner of the 2021 Making a Mark competition is… Beyond Recovery!

The judges were really impressed with Beyond Recovery’s entry (video below), especially as a fairly new social enterprise, which had to adapt quickly when the Covid restrictions meant they weren’t able to deliver their offender rehabilitation programmes in prisons.

On being notified of their success, Beyond Recovery founder Jacqueline Hollows said: “We are delighted to be the winner of the Making a Mark competition. This award means so much to us all after a year of hard work and dedication to supporting our beneficiaries in new and innovative ways. We were also very impressed with the other finalists and wish them all the best in their endeavours and acknowledge the amazing work they are doing.”

You can find out more about Beyond Recovery in a special competition showcase in Pioneers Post.

In addition to Beyond Recovery, the judges also wanted to recognise Forward Carers as a very close contender and have awarded them Highly Commended status.

As Pauline Gannon, Co-Founder of Social Impact Ireland and one of the judges, explained: “I loved how the Foward Carers video gave a voice to so many. They brought you to the heart of their social enterprise and the work they do. It was a very well laid out story and explanation, which showed how they rose to all challenges and showed great adaptability and resilience.”

Beyond Recovery were shortlisted as finalists alongside four other organisations, and we would like to extend our congratulations to the other finalists:

• Hope Enterprises
• Peninsula Dental Social Enterprise
• University of Winchester

Our thanks go to our external judging panel for their time and support:

• Kevin Armstrong – Policy Lead at UnLtd
• Alexander Fahie – CEO at Ethical Angel
• Pauline Gannon – Co-Founder at Social Impact Ireland
• Sona Mahtani – Director of Beyond Just Now
• Ali Ward – General Manager at Social Enterprise Yorkshire & Humber
• Tim West – Founding Editor and CEO at Pioneers Post