Beyond Recovery has been named winner of the annual Making a Mark competition, run by social enterprise accreditation body Social Enterprise Mark CIC. The competition recognises and celebrates the extraordinary impact made by social enterprises in the UK.

Story of 2020

This year, Social Enterprise Mark CIC asked its community of social enterprises to share their ‘Story of 2020’. To enter the competition, each organisation needed to illustrate how they responded to the Covid-19 outbreak, then ‘weathered the storm’ to continue supporting local communities and wider society.

The judging panel named Beyond Recovery as one of five finalists selected for their outstanding response to the Covid crisis. Founder, Jacqueline Hollows, submitted a video entry featuring herself and directors, Derrick Mason and Omar Wilson. It illustrated how the social enterprise had rapidly adapted its offering when the pandemic struck in spring 2020.

Beyond Recovery

Making a Mark

The team’s priority was to continue to support people in prison, despite no longer being allowed to deliver their wellbeing rehabilitation programmes in person. Over the last year, they have continued to find innovative ways of doing so. Jacqueline decided to apply for the award at the last minute in the hope of boosting team morale after a series of knockbacks. She said:

“We are delighted to be the winner of the Making a Mark competition. After a year of hard work and dedication to support our beneficiaries in new and innovative ways, this award means so much to us. We were also impressed with the other finalists and wish them all the best in the amazing work they are doing.”

High Praise

A member of the judging panel commented: “I commend the resilience Beyond Recovery has shown. To generate a new business plan is inspiring, especially when faced with the additional and complex issues relating to their beneficiaries.”

They also described Beyond Recovery’s entry as: “Very clear and well laid out… I loved the energy behind this story and the three voices. A real heart-warming positive story that reflects the positive that can come from Covid.”

Beyond Recovery’s video entry can be viewed here and you can read more about the Making a Mark competition by clicking on this link: https://www.pioneerspost.com/news-views/20210616/we-lost-everything-the-prisoner-support-service-turned-adversity-impact-during

Congratulations to the other Making a Mark 2021 finalists – Hope Enterprises, Peninsula Dental Social Enterprise and the University of Winchester.