Three new social enterprises will create 23 jobs in Northern Ireland’s social economy sector.
Announced by Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster they are being backed by Accept Care Social Firms Ltd in Bangor.
Two new Daisies Cafés will be established in Belfast and Lurgan as part of this expansion, creating 11 new jobs. The 12 remaining positions will be created in a community farm project.
Daisies Café in Newtownards forms part of Accept Care’s network of services, which includes helping people access training and employment opportunities. This award-winning social firm is a fully operational café, which also offers a carefully planned, supportive working environment for the proportion of its workforce with mental ill health or a learning disability.
Invest NI has been working with the company to develop a business plan for a number of new projects and is supporting the new jobs under the social economy measure of its Jobs Fund.
Commenting following a visit to Daisies Café in Newtownards where she was accompanied by Health Minister Edwin Poots, Arlene Foster said: “Social enterprises have a unique contribution to make to the Northern Ireland economy in regenerating disadvantaged communities and areas. Accept Care and Daisies Café have demonstrated the potential for growth and success within this sector.
“This expansion, supported under Invest NI’s Job Fund, will help to further develop the social economy sector by promoting entrepreneurship and offering job opportunities for those most remote from the labour market.”