Many of the ambassadors work in dispersed areas of the countryside, where social enterprise is essential to bringing the community together, finds Claudia Cahalane

For the next three years, under the new Social Enterprise Ambassadors Programme, 35 leading social entrepreneurs, will be taking the message of working in a different way, to the masses. They’ll give talks to schools, offer advice to businesses and give interviews to the media. The idea is to inspire more people to get involved or support the movement.

A Cosmic workshop enabling local residents to get more out of IT

The ambassadors have been appointed by the Social Enterprise Coalition and the Cabinet Office to show people, through their own businesses, how a great social enterprise can work.

Several of them boast highly successful and innovative social enterprises in rural parts of the UK. They range from the likes of Cumbrian Daniel Heery, who runs a broadband service for his community, to Tim Smit who set up the Eden Project in St Austell.

Other businesses which will be exhibited to the public and the media as brilliant examples of social enterprise, include the Glastonbury Festival, which works extensively with world charities.

There’s also the South Shropshire Furniture Recycling Scheme, Unique – a drop-in youth coffee bar credited with reducing anti-social behaviour in Newark, a recycling community company in mid Devon and a social exclusion charity in Derbyshire.

Who are the rural social enterprise ambassadors?

Daniel Heery, founder and manager of Cybermoor, Cumbria

 Four years ago, many of the 2,200 people living in Alston Moor in the North Pennines knew very little about the internet. Now, thanks to Daniel Heery, nearly 40% are wired up to high-speed broadband and enjoying being part of a cyber community.

Heery, a local and founder of Cybermoor, was fired up by the isolation villagers felt, as well as seeing the effects Foot and Mouth on the local economy, so he decided to bring Alston into the modern age.

With a variety of funding and a small team, he bought hundreds of computers for locals, put in broadband connections across the area, taught people IT skills and set up an online community portal where neighbours could chat with each other and keep up with local events.

Today, Cybermoor employs 14 people and has the highest penetration of broadband in any rural area in England. A handful of new businesses have also set up in the area, the work force is more skilled and diverse and house prices have risen by 25%.

The enterprise sustains itself financially by selling and hiring out equipment, as well as providing consultancy for local authorities and government agencies.

www.cybermoor.org

Julie Harris, chief executive of Cosmic, East Devon

Many people in urban areas can struggle to keep up with the continual modernising of technology and working methods, but in rural areas this issue is often heightened. Ten years ago, Cosmic in East Devon was set up to address this situation locally and help people skill themselves up for the 21st Century.

The company works at all levels to solve IT challenges and help people, including older or disadvantaged locals, make the most of new technologies. It also provides IT services, including web design, for charities and public and private businesses around the country to sustain itself financially.

The company now employs 12 people and is headed up by Julie Harris, who’s been at Cosmic since the beginning. Harris has a key role in leading the strategic planning of the business’s future.

She has a keen interest in seeing the company grow and develop to meet the needs of more and more businesses, individuals and organisations. Julie is currently studying an MA in Leadership Studies and is also chair of RISE - the Regional Infrastructure for Social Enterprise in the South West.

www.Cosmic.org.uk

Tim Smit, co-founder of the Eden Project, Cornwall

Set up in 2000, the Eden Project is now world famous for its stunning plant life and eco principles. It houses more than 1,000,000 plants and offers visitors the opportunity to understand the human dependence upon greenery.

Many of the plants can grow in the mild conditions of Cornwall, others need greenhouses and that is where Eden's two gigantic Biomes - the biggest conservatories in the world - come in. The idea was primarily Tim Smit 's, working with horticultural gurus Peter Thoday and Philip McMillan, and Cornish architect and co-founder Jonathan Ball.

Eden itself was a massive regeneration project, significantly improving the huge area of land it occupies. It has also breathed an injection of fresh air into local tourism, encouraging more businesses and more jobs in the area. By mid-2006, more than 7.5 million people had visited Eden and it had contributed £700 million to the local economy.

www.edenproject.com

Karen Lowthrope, director of Hill Holt Wood, near Lincoln

Twelve years ago, Karen uprooted her family from a more than comfortable lifestyle in Ireland, to put some real roots down in Hill Holt Wood in Disley, near Lincoln. The small wood they arrived at was in poor condition, with invasive rhododendron, a damaged drainage system and the majority of the quality timber removed by the previous owners.

Now, they’ve regenerated the area and employ excluded, at risk or unemployed young people to manage the land as a habitat. They also use the natural resource to achieve other goals, such as employment, education and training.

Hill Holt Wood generates its own energy, and the young people produce wood products from natural materials, which are sold on to provide some funding. Consultancy and ranger services also bring in money.

There is a growing awareness amongst environmental and educational professionals that this type of project crosses a range of government policy areas.