Testimonials
Don’t take our word for it… see what people have to say about our accreditation services
Kate Welch, Chief Executive of Social Enterprise Acumen, a social enterprise in the North East that provides capacity building support and advice to social entrepreneurs, explains why the Social Enterprise Mark is important to her business and to the sector as a whole.
Professor Karen Stanton, Vice Chancellor of York St John University, one of a growing network of universities that have proven their commitment to making a real difference for people and planet, explains what the Social Enterprise Gold Mark says about their institution.
Chocolate Films, a video production company in London that uses profits to support an outreach and workshop programme supporting children and young people into film and video-making activities, explains how the Social Enterprise Mark benefits their business.
Gareth Hart, Director of Iridescent Ideas, a social enterprise based in Plymouth supporting new social enterprises and charities to get established and existing ones to grow, explains what having the Social Enterprise Mark means for his business.
“The Big Issue was set up to find a business solution to the social crisis of homelessness. We are proud to be a social enterprise, proud to be part of a movement and the Social Enterprise Mark tells our readers just that.”
“The process of applying was really straightforward. I was really impressed with the wealth of information and quality of materials provided. We believe the Social Enterprise Mark is going to make a significant difference to proving our social impact and status as a social enterprise.”
“The Social Enterprise Mark is an excellent way for us to provide an independent guarantee of our commitment to creating positive social change. It is also beneficial in helping us communicate our aims, purposes, and priorities to students, partners and other stakeholders in an era of increased scrutiny of the role of Universities in society.”
“The Social Enterprise Mark is phenomenally important to us all because it represents our team’s commitment to the social purpose of our organisation. And we find it very helpful – as well as ensuring our social enterprise credentials are recognised externally, the standard guides us in our expenditure decisions.”
“The Gold Mark has given us an umbrella to sit under. We had not thought of ourselves as a social enterprise, it’s just what we do.
The Social Enterprise Mark CIC team applied the social enterprise lens to what we do. We’ve learned to think about ourselves in a different way.”
“The Social Enterprise Mark a statement of quality in general, it’s about what we do… It has helped us to work through our outcomes, through the process of re-accreditation. We had to think it through as a board and team and we clarified our overall policy and strategy.”
“I just want to say what a pleasure the experience of applying for the Social Enterprise Gold Mark has been. I don’t think we could possibly have anticipated at the start of the process just how beneficial it would be to our thinking.”
“It’s crucial that our customers are aware that Watershed is socially motivated and the Social Enterprise Mark will help us communicate this. Some of our customers do not fully understand that we are driven not by profits but by social motives. Communicating this to our customers is a key element of our communications strategy, and the Social Enterprise Mark is a big part of it.”
“The Social Enterprise Mark CIC team make assessments easier, it’s very simple but there are robust criteria. At first, we couldn’t describe what we do, but we got help from Richard. That was a deal maker for us. I was too close to what we do. Richard was hand-holding and very helpful.”
“As one of the team involved in setting up the Fairtrade Mark, I know how important consumer choice can be. Cooperatives UK welcomes the Social Enterprise Mark and is pleased to encourage its take up by all social enterprises.”
“The Social Enterprise Mark is an excellent tool in enabling us as commissioners to be able to establish the credentials of organisations that are delivering social value. Within health and social care the reinvestment of surpluses in to social benefits is of huge advantage to those receiving and delivering care and the wider community.
The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 focuses commissioners on seeking out such social value from their supply chain. The Mark certainly assists in helping us evidence that.”
Ed Hughes of HEFCE (now Office for Students), the independent regulator of higher education in England, explains what the Social Enterprise Mark means for the Higher Education sector.
