On 27 March 2015, the awards ceremony for the final round of the British Council’s Social Enterprise Programme Social Investment Platform took place at the Kempinski Hotel, Beijing.
During the awards ceremony, the winners of the Social Investment Platform prizes were announced, with 18 social enterprises being awarded a total of ten million RMB in interest-free loans, equity investment opportunities or consulting services from nine different investment partners.
In attendance was Ms.Carma Elliot, Minister (Culture and Education) and Director of the British Council China, who gave a short speech on the importance of social enterprise as an agent of positive social change, as well as the role of UK-China relations in the development of social enterprise in China.
Furthermore, with 2015 being the first ever UK-China Year of Cultural Exchange formally agreed by the governments of both countries, Ms. Elliot announced a new Creative Social Enterprise Award to be launched in September this year. This new award, she said, will “both recognise existing enterprise and encourage more creative and innovative solutions to social and environmental issues.”
Mr. Qi Qiankun, Founder of Jinan Green Star Home, also talked about his experiences over the past 12 years with his social enterprise, which provides services to improve the lives of disabled people in the city of Jinan, Shandong Province.
Throughout the evening, the representatives of each of the nine investment partners announced the enterprises they would be supporting through investment and training opportunities. The prize winners made it through a total of four rounds of selection, which saw the initial figure of 434 applicants fall to just 32 finalists, 18 of which won investment or training opportunities on the night.
Apart from the announcement of the award winners, the evening also included a performance by a project called “EIGHT”, an international creative collaboration between eight musicians and visual artists from Manchester and Wuhan.
Mr. Miao Shiming, a graduate of the Social Enterprise Programme, was then invited onstage to introduce his organisation, World of Art Brut Centre, which provides free art lessons and courses to disabled people. Mr. Miao then invited 12 guests to take part in a painting activity with some of the disabled artists from his organisation. Once it was finished, the painting was auctioned to the audience and was bought by Mr. Liu Wenhua of Yuanen Public Space for RMB 6900.
The full amount of Mr. Liu’s winning bid was then donated to the New Hope Foundation, which provides care and treatment to orphaned and abandoned children in China. The donation was accepted by Mr. Robin Hill, Co-founder and CEO of New Hope Foundation.
Bringing the awards part of the evening to a close, Mr Xu Yongguang, Chairman of Narada Foundation, gave a speech highlighting the importance of innovation and business in philanthropy.
Following the conclusion of the awards ceremony, all of the guests were treated to a buffet dinner during which they had an opportunity to network and make new connections with others within the sector.
The list of winners chosen by the relevant investment funds is as follows:
| More Love Foundation • Dalian Aika Vocational Training School • Beijing Daxing District Early Education Association |
Narada Foundation • Gongyifang (Shanghai) Business Consulting Co., Ltd. |
| Innovate 99 Impact Investment Consulting • Imaging Biodiversity Expedition Ins. (IBE) • Beijing Zhengzai Guanhuai Technology Co., Ltd. • Chengdu Dream Cycling Club |
Dunhe Foundation • BEAM • Guangzhou Huangpu District Chuangsiwei Voluntary Service Team • Beijing HeArt Environmental Technology Co., Ltd. • Shenzhen Constant Love Family Service Center • Guizhou Chengzhang Yuedu Culture Communication Co., Ltd. • Hangzhou Li & Rui Cultural Planning Co., Ltd. |
| Yu Venture Philanthropy • Yiyun Center for Social Innovation (IYIYUN) • Qianlin Baobei (Beijing) Biotechnology Co., Ltd. |
LGT Venture Philanthropy • Shanghai AmeSante Healthcare Technologies Co., Ltd. • Beijing Yuanzhe Dacheng Consultancy Co., Ltd. |
| Social Enterprise Research Centre • SWNE Center |
Shenzhen Innovation Corporate Social Responsibility Development Centre • pARTicipate |
| Daohe Institute for Environment and Development • Beijing HeArt Environmental Technology Co., Ltd. |