THE much-anticipated Best of the West awards returns next month – with Work West delighted to be sponsoring the best Social Enterprise award.

Rich in history, Work West has been at the forefront of supporting enterprise and innovation in West Belfast for the past 34 years. Situated on the Glen Road, Work West are a prominent market leader in supporting social enterprises to start up and grow. They have recently been appointed as Belfast City Council’s preferred supplier for social enterprise and cooperative support across the city.

The 2023 Best of the West ceremony will be hosted on 9 June at the Balmoral Hotel in Belfast for the eighth edition of the prestigious awards. The awards is your opportunity to say which organisations and individuals represent the very cream of the crop.

Claire Ferris, Chief Executive of Work West, said:  “Our social economy village is a unique space which houses locally based social enterprises and is also the location of our thincLAB (test house for innovation and creativity), where we deliver our innovation work using our thinc model which combines design thinking and creative problem solving methodologies.  

“Over the past month alone Community Foundation for Northern Ireland have supported us to take 37 people through a four day innovation programme to identify new solutions to address housing and homelessness. Uniquely Work West use our innovation model with the social enterprises we support encouraging them to adopt an innovator's mindset in really challenging times.

“We are delighted to be sponsoring Best Social Enterprise in the Best of the West awards. We have brilliant social enterprises in this part of the city with significant social and economic impact for local people through the services delivered, the people supported and the jobs created.”

To vote in this year's Best of the West, click here.