The Atlantic Social Lab project in Cork with the financial support of the Social Economic and Environmental Programme as part of the City North West Quarter Regeneration, held an “Ask & Advise Evening” for Social Enterprises in the Glandore Workspace on Lapps Quay in Cork on the 5th of  March 2020.

To start the evening, Padraic Vallely from Social Innovation Fund Ireland gave participants an overview of their Sustainable Cork Fund which they set up in conjunction with Cork Chamber of Commerce.  He explained the grant amounts that are available and the types of projects that they will be looking to assist.

Following this there was an intervention from successful entrepreneur and Cork native Danny O’ Donavan who spoke about his experiences in setting up a successful business in Cork. 

The Ask & Advise session then got underway. Facilitated by Chris Gordon from the Irish Social Enterprise Network, the Social Enterprises and support organisations present shared their experiences and issues and together with the facilitator they gave each other advice on how to overcome challenges.

The event was highly successful drawing together over 30 participants from social enterprises and support organisations and issues discussed ranged from how to obtain capital funding to implementing the WISE model in social enterprises.