SOCIAL ENTERPRISE DAY: Brown brings home social enterprise bacon as Café Sunlight storms Number 10

Prime minister Gordon Brown said a big thank you to social enterprises around the UK today at a special reception at Number 10 Downing Street.

Speaking to a crowd of more than 100 people, Brown said the words 'thank you' were not used enough. He said charities, community groups, social enterprises and NGOs were 'all playing a vital role in getting the country through the downturn. I am confident they will play an even more central role as we build Britain's future'.

Particular praise was given to staff from social enterprise Café Sunlight which had taken over the Number 10 kitchens to serve up mini bacon and eggs, beef and Yorkshire pudding and a range of other tasty morsels.

Students and teachers were present from three schools - Holbrook Centre for Autism in Derbyshire, Bruntcliffe School in Leeds and St Cuthbert's Catholic Community College in St Helens. The three were announced as shortlisted candidates for the Social Enterprise in Schools Award, the winner of which will be revealed at an awards celebration on 3 December.

The winners of the Social Enterprise Awards in England were also announced. These were Bikeworks in east London, the Brighter Future Workshop in Lancashire and Global Ethics, the company behind the One Water and One Condoms brands.

The winners of the Social Enterprise Awards in the other nations were also announced in seperate ceremonies. The Welsh winners were the Centre for Alternative Technology, Pack-IT and Cycle Training Wales. The Scottish winners were Alloa Community Enterprises, Social Enterprise Clydebank and The Bread Maker. The Northern Irish winners were Bryson Charitable Group, Colin Glen Trust, and Out and About Enterprises.

• Winners of the Scottish Social Enterpise Awards were named as Alloa Community Enterprises for best social enterprise with a turnover of more than £1m, Social Enterprise Clydebank or best social enterprise with a turnover of less than £1m and The Bread Maker was announced as best new social enterprise.

• In Wales, the winners were Machynlleth’s Centre for Alternative Technology for best social enterprise with a turnover of more than £1m, the less than £1m turnover prize went to Pack-It Group and best newcomer was Cycle Training Wales.

The UK-wide winners of the Social Enterprise Awards will be revealed on 3 December. To vote and for more information: www.socialenterpriseawards.org.uk

For more about the shortlisted schools, read Trailblazers09, the magazine for young social entrepreneurs. Download here

Watch a video of the event here