A Community Fund grant from North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) in 2024 gave NNSE network the boost needed to work towards its aims of connecting, supporting and promoting social enterprise in the county.
Following on from that in late 2024 NNC invested in supporting the wider Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector in North Northants through the commissioning of support or ‘infrastructure’ services. This contract was secured by a collaboration of local VCSE support organisations – now known as Aspire NN – which includes the North Northants Social Enterprise network.
Thanks to the commissioning of this contract to Aspire NN and NNSE as a partner, our network is now able to develop and grow. As a result NNSE became a community interest company in early 2025. This financial support and increased collaboration from North Northants Councils played a big part in enabling the county to be one of only 25 areas in the country to be awarded ‘Social Enterprise Place’ status by Social Enterprise UK.
