An innovative scheme to help disadvantaged people set up their own businesses has won the West Midlands regional prize in the prestigious Market Town Awards and will now go head-to-head with projects from seven other regions in the National Market Town Awards.

miEnterprise helps people, often disadvantaged by a disability or health issue, to plan, set-up, run and develop micro businesses as a flexible route into employment. It is the first social enterprise of its type nationally to assist with supported self-employment, and has an innovative structure that enables it to offer its members effective business support without affecting their self employed status.

It was developed in partnership with its members, Herefordshire Council, Jobcentreplus and through working closely with Revenue and Customs (HMRC).  It has addressed a number of potential obstacles to supporting disadvantaged people, particularly those with a learning disability, to start their own businesses.

The project has equipped workplaces that are available to members to hire, giving them ready and affordable access to high-quality resources that they would not normally be able to afford themselves or  raise loan finance for. This enables them to develop high-quality micro-businesses. For example,  the creation of a small fully-equipped catering kitchen, including a commercial ice cream making machine, enables members to explore local economy opportunities such as community shops and markets.

miEnterprise has just received a grant from the Dept of Business, Innovation & Skills to replicate its model in a number of other sites around the UK. Leominster will now be the national base for this growing organisation.

The judges commented that miEnterprise was a brand new idea which offered an amazing opportunity to people with disability or health problems to lead a normal life – an idea which could be replicated elsewhere in the country.

miEnterprise won the Business and Economy Category in the regional Market Town Awards and was also the overall regional winner. The award was presented at a ceremony in Trowbridge by Action for Market Towns West Midlands representative Anne Buchanan. They now go head-to-head with other regional winners to compete for the National Market Town Award at the Action for Market Towns Convention in Chippenham, Wiltshire on October 12.

Other winners were:

Social & Community Category Winner – Spa Youth Zone, Droitwich Spa for a town centre community facility for young people in Droitwich Spa, which provides a social place for them to meet, a base for agencies to provide services and a “hub” for other youth provision and new projects.  The target users are 13 – 17 year olds and over 200 young people a week regularly use the facility.

Partnership & Strategic Working Category Winner – Creating an Interactive Heritage Tourism Destination, Stourport for its work building on the success of the award winning Stourport Basins Restoration and Cafe/Restaurant projects. Stourport Canal Basins has been further developed as an interactive heritage tourism destination through the creation of two heritage rooms, events resources, an education project and sustainable events and volunteer programmes to enhance and develop the visitor economy.

The West Midlands Market Town Awards are part of the National Market Town Awards which each year celebrate the great variety of volunteer-led projects which are helping to regenerate and sustain small towns throughout the country. The Awards are organised by Action for Market Towns, the national organization with over 400 towns in membership which supports the regeneration and vitality of small towns.

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For further press information on the market town awards, please contact: John Pole on 01430 441557. E-mail: john.pole@towns.org.uk

To contact miEnterprise, ring Jon Pitts on 01568 611659

To contact Spa Youth Zone, ring Janet Yates on 01386 565355

To contact Stourport Canal Basins, ring Liz Sheerin on 01299 822827