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Nimbus Disability gets shortlisted for Social Enterprise Award for Access Card Scheme

Nimbus Disability named a finalist in the UK Social Enterprise Awards, recognising businesses which are transforming society

Nimbus Disability has been shortlisted in the UK Social Enterprise Award, recognising it as one of the leading social enterprises in the country.

Nimbus Disability, based in Derby with a global reach, is a finalist in the ‘Tech for Good: Technology Social Enterprise’ category. It is a business that is one of the country’s leading providers of disability-related advice and support to professional organisations. In the last year, Nimbus Disability has seen a large influx in the number of venues & attractions signing up to their Access Card Scheme. The scheme now has over twelve hundred providers and over thirty-five thousand Access Card Holders.

Social enterprises are businesses that trade for a social or environmental purpose. There are 100,000 social enterprises in the UK contributing £60bn to the UK economy, each one being set up to tackle some of the biggest challenges we face from homelessness to the climate emergency. 

The UK Social Enterprise Awards run by Social Enterprise UK, the national membership body for social enterprises, recognise the nation’s most pioneering social enterprises.  Nimbus Disability will be joining other shortlisted organisations at the prestigious awards ceremony held at London’s iconic Guildhall on 8th December. 

This year the Awards featured two new categories: one recognising a Social Enterprise Building Diversity, Inclusion, Equity & Justice and the other for the Social Enterprise Team of the Year – a category specifically acknowledging those teams which have demonstrated the strength, passion and resilience so characteristic of the social enterprise sector over an extremely challenging year. 

Previous winners have included a company set up to tackle furniture poverty, an IT consultancy employing people with autism and a community energy co-operative – demonstrating just how diverse the social enterprise sector is. 

Commenting on being shortlisted, Martin Austin, Managing Director of Nimbus Disability, said:

“The team here at Nimbus are delighted to have been shortlisted for this great award and it serves a great recognition of the hard work put in by all of them each and every day.

“It’s safe to say that this last year has been a strange and difficult one, and we are looking forward to celebrating not only our achievements but that of all of the other great Social Enterprises that continue to contribute so much.”

Martin Austin MBE, Managing Director of Nimbus Disability & Creator of the Access Card

Commenting on the Awards, Chief Executive of Social Enterprise UK Peter Holbrook said:

“The UK Social Enterprise Awards are back, bigger and better than ever before. We have had a record number of applications this year, all of which have showcased the strength, dynamism and resilience of the social enterprise community through what’s been an incredibly difficult and uncertain period. 

“Over the course of the pandemic social enterprises have been going above and beyond the call of duty to support their teams, the individuals, and communities they work with, showing the grit, determination and innovation so inherent to this sector. They’ve been operating directly on the frontline of the crisis, launching new products and pivoting their business models to meet the needs of communities and society as a whole.

“The Awards are all about celebrating the achievements of the UK’s social enterprise movement, which is showing us that another way of doing business is possible – one which has never been more important as we look to build back better and address the climate emergency.” 

Chief Executive of Social Enterprise UK Peter Holbrook

ENDS

Notes

For more information please contact Nimbus Disability –

Email: info@nimbusdisability.com

Tel: 0330 808 5108

About Nimbus Disability

Nimbus is one of the country’s leading providers of disability-related advice and support to professional organisations.

We provide a wide range of training and consultancy services and are also the creators of national schemes CredAbility Quality Assurance and The Access Card.

Nimbus exists to help you meet and exceed your legal obligations to disabled people.

About social enterprises

Social enterprises are businesses which trade for a social purpose that reinvest or donate over half their profits to further this social or environmental mission. They are an increasingly important part of the UK economy contributing £60 billion and employing 2 million people. Estimates are there are 100,000 in the UK. Research carried out by Social Enterprise UK, the membership body for the sector, shows they are outperforming traditional businesses when it comes to start-up rates, turnover growth and innovation. They are also ahead of the pack when it comes to workforce diversity and pay. For more information and statistics see Social Enterprise UK’s State of Social enterprise Report 2019 and the ‘Hidden Revolution’ report which showed the true scale and impact of the sector.  

About Social Enterprise UK

Social Enterprise UK is the largest network of certified social enterprises in the UK and the leading global authority on social enterprises. Together with our members we are the voice for the sector. We have led public policy for 15 years, helping pass the Social Value Act, and are a strategic partner to government. We exist to increase the profile of the sector through our campaigns and research, and build the markets for our members – working with some of the UK’s biggest companies to support them to bring social enterprises into their supply chains. Our members reflect the diversity of the sector ranging from local grass-roots organisations to multi-million-pound businesses. We see social enterprise as the future of business.

www.socialenterprise.org.uk