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Draperstown-based social enterprise business, The Workspace Group, is celebrating, having won the ‘Community Wealth Building’ category at this year’s Northern Ireland Social Enterprise Awards.

The annual awards celebrate the achievements of social enterprises and their unique contribution to society in Northern Ireland. Winners were announced at a prestigious black-tie event in Belfast’s Crowne Plaza, with almost 600 attendees from the private, public, and social enterprise sector.

The Workspace Group are inaugural winners of the new Community Wealth Building category, along with Derry Credit Union. It was open to all voluntary and social enterprises in Northern Ireland and recognises enterprises who are locally rooted and have a strong economic and social impact within the local community.

Mrs Georgina Grieve, Chief Executive of The Workspace Group, noted: “We are delighted to receive this award. It is a fantastic achievement and recognition for everything that we do, not only for the local community in the Draperstown area, but for those individuals, households and businesses that we support throughout all of our operations on a daily basis.”

Workspace Group Team are pictured with the Award. Credit: Submitted

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Over the past year, some of the Group’s main achievements included supporting 1,828 individuals on employability programmes; moving 690 individuals into employment; enabling 1,150 homes to access home insulation grants to enable them to move out of fuel poverty; providing premises for 52 local businesses, enabling them to provide employment for local people; and providing business start-up/growth mentoring to over 190 local entrepreneurs/social enterprises.

In addition, Workspace opened a new community hub in Draperstown, provided a new purpose-built facility for the local youth club; set up and managed Sperrin Foodbank to support families in Draperstown and surrounding areas; provided free space for local community groups/social enterprises and the high school to operate from; provided funding for fuel and food for local families, provided funding for toys for Christmas for 76 children and provided funding for local schools to enable them to provide food at break times for children.

Mrs Grieve added: “These achievements are only possible because of the fantastic teams that we have throughout the Workspace Group, so we are delighted that their hard work and dedication has been recognised.”

The Workspace Group Wins New Social Enterprise Award