social enterprise

My name is Lily Yu, the 2010 Summer Intern of the Social Enterprise Yorkshire and Humber and I will be working at SEYH until the 19^th August. Coming from Hong Kong, a place where social enterprises are not widely recognized and implemented, the concept of social enterprises thus becomes quite new and unique to me. My stay in UK so far had me in awe through the omnipresence of social enterprises and its impacts that it has had in local communities. In Hong Kong, most business operate through similar goals of maximizing shareholders’ profits, acquiring other competitors in order to take the leading place in their sector, and trying to build and expand their business through different industries. However, here at Leeds, I can see that the focus on the concept of ‘business’ is quite different. Social Enterprises do not only contribute their profits back to the community in the long run, but they also contribute by running the business in hopes of benefiting the needs of people in the society. For example, people would sell milk to schools and pay a portion of profits to local farmers, employ people with disabilities and long-term unemployed, and educate children on healthy eating issues.

I am looking forward to gaining a more in-depth understanding of social enterprises through working at SEYH. I wish to not only be able to further understand and adapt to the good faith of individuals whom run social enterprises, but also to provide any assistance that I can to the SEYH organization. In the end, I hope to be able to bring what I have learned and experienced with social enterprises back to Hong Kong, spreading its importance and emphasizing its need in Hong Kong society today.

You can get in touch with me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Lily