Galway charity marks 20th anniversary with Social Enterprise of the Year Award

A leading Galway charity that fosters community, enterprise, wellbeing and social inclusion has been recognised by Social Enterprise of the Year 2022 by the All Ireland Business Foundation.

It’s the latest acknowledgement of the impact of SCCUL Enterprises, which learned of its award in a virtual ceremony just before Christmas.

CEO Aoibheann McCann said they were delighted to receive this latest accolade.

“It is a testimony to the incredible work of our board, staff and volunteers over the past twenty years,” she said.

The local not for profit, social enterprise is a registered charity, which was set up by – but independent of – St Columba’s Credit Union in 2002.

And in the two decades since, it has spearheaded a number of successful initiatives – including the SCCUL Enterprise Centre in Ballybane, where local enterprises and community groups can avail of affordable space and support services.

Through the operation of a two-tier social inclusion model, SCCUL uses income generated from commercial interactions to offset the cost associated with the provision of facilities and services to local community groups.

The SCCUL Enterprise Centre comprises independent business units, shared office space with individual pods and hot desks, conference rooms, a holistic counselling suite and a shared canteen.

SCCUL also operates Bizmentors, a mentoring programme for start-ups and existing businesses currently servicing Galway city and county.

It provides free access to business expertise and wisdom to people in small businesses who may otherwise have difficulty in accessing such support.

Bizmentors has provided over 6,000 hours of mentoring to local business for free.

The rapid growth and success of the Bizmentors programme has seen it recognised by the EU and was funded to roll-out across four regions in northern Europe as a pilot programme between 2018 and 2021, as Bizmentors International  which has just been awarded bridging funding for the next six months to bring it to the next stage.

SCCUL also runs the SCCUL Sanctuary in Kilcornan, Clarinbridge, which was set up to provide a safe space for people facing life challenges – and operates the Ballinfoile/Castlegar Neighbourhood Centre, on behalf of Galway City Council.

The Centre’s Sports Hall is fully equipped for basketball, indoor soccer and badminton, and also boats three meeting rooms with high-spec audio visual facilities.

There is also a General Purpose Room which can cater for an array of activities such as Yoga, Zumba, Aerobics and more.