Ready to RISE (Readiness and Incubation for the Social Economy) is a free training programme, supported by the ScottishPower Foundation.
It is designed to support women and non-binary people across Scotland learn about social enterprise and discover their potential to use entrepreneurship to make a living, work flexibly, and positively impact their communities.
The training is designed to help you build confidence, develop your skills, and explore your ideas. It covers creating a work/life blend that suits you, managing yourself and others, building your network, and includes an ideation session plus practical guidance on starting a social enterprise.
Ready to RISE is 8-weeks long, delivered via Zoom on Wednesdays from 10:00 AM to 12:30 PM.
The programme runs across three training cohorts
- Cohort 1: Wednesday 2 September-Wednesday 21 October
- Cohort 2: Wednesday 28 October-Wednesday 16 December
- Cohort 3: Wednesday 13 January-Wednesday 3 March 2027
Each round offers 15-20 places. Once a round is fully booked, applications will automatically roll over to the next available training cohort.
Participants may also be eligible to apply for up to £1,000 in grant funding to help develop and progress their idea.
Want to find out more? Join Ready to RISE: Let’s get started!
If you’ve ever thought about starting a social enterprise but weren’t sure where to begin, Ready to RISE: Let’s get started is the perfect place to start.
These informal sessions offer a chance to:
- learn what the Ready to RISE programme is all about
- hear directly from social entrepreneurs who’ve turned their ideas into careers
- discover how social enterprise can help you earn a living, work flexibly, and have a positive impact
- find out how Ready to RISE could support your idea
- hear from Emma Ives, an experienced start-up business advisor
- ask your important questions during a Q&A
Each one will feature different speakers and you are welcome to attend as many as you’d like.
Let’s get started will happen at three in-person and one online session coming up, so far you can register for:
- an online information session on Monday 21 September 10.00-11.30 AM run by the Making Work Work team (part of the Challenges Group)
- an in person information session on Thursday 22 October 1.30-3.30 PM at The Melting Pot
Sign up to our newsletter for the latest on others coming up.
Ready to apply?
Applications are now open for the first cohort.
A Ready to RISE social entrepreneur panel in January 2025
For any questions, please contact us.
Get inspired by others already using social entrepreneurship to create flexible and fulfilling jobs that meet their needs by reading our case studies.