Queen Mary named as higher education social entrepreneurship partner

Over the next year, Queen Mary will work with UnLtd as part of their HE Support Initiative to develop current support structures which place social entrepreneurship at the heart of the College, as well as giving staff and students the chance to start up a social venture. 

Queen Mary is one of 56 Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in England to partner with UnLtd on this initiative, to embed a culture of social entrepreneurship within the institution and across the Higher Education sector. QM will also receive £10,000 of funding for an Awards pot for social venture creation.

Emily Huns, Head of Careers at Queen Mary, led the bid to become a partner in the HE Support Initiative. She comments: “Queen Mary lies in east London- an area that is buzzing with young people with brilliant ideas. Our careers service, QM Careers, is committed to helping students generate business ideas, develop skills and get fledgling start-ups off the ground. By joining this new initiative, we will be even better placed to give them the support they need.”

Professor Peter McOwan, Queen Mary’s Vice-Principal for External Partnerships and Public Engagement adds: “Queen Mary has a strong tradition of supporting talented staff, students and graduates in their social entrepreneurship endeavours. Our student entrepreneur and enterprise societies continue to grow, and the College offers support for enterprise in the form of courses, workshops and the annual student competitions, with a prize fund to help students who have just started to develop a business idea to make their next step.”

Further information on the HE Support Initiative and a full list of partner institutions can be found here www.unltd.org.uk/hesupport