- 26th Deutsche Bank Awards for Creative Entrepreneurs (DBACE): longest running awards programme for creative enterprises gives £50,000 to five innovative businesses championing social change.
- Winners receive ongoing business support for a year and access to exclusive industry networks in partnership with MeWe360.
- DBACE supports young UK-based entrepreneurs driven by a mission to build and sustain social value through enterprise.
Five innovative creative businesses have been awarded a share of £50,000 and ongoing world-class mentoring and support from leading UK experts to develop their businesses despite the Covid-19 blow to creative industries.
DBACE’s latest competition opened up in January 2020 with 428 applicants. Despite the onset of a lockdown and Covid-19 pandemic, the panel of established industry leaders and DBACE are proud to announce this year’s winners – set to launch or grow their social enterprises in the era of “The New Normal”.
The judging panel includes Jude Kelly CBE, Founder and Director of The WOW Foundation, Farooq Chaudry OBE, co-founder and Producer of Akram Khan Company, Lareena Hilton, Global Head of Brand Communications & CSR at Deutsche Bank AG, and Kevin Osborne, Founder and CEO of MeWe360.
2020 winners:
BETHANY WILLIAMS LONDON: an artist/designer taking on fashion’s destructive impact on the planet with a sustainable clothing brand that works with social projects and local manufacturers to create an ecosystem/circular model ensuring that the fashion industry is harnessed to create positive social change rather than exploitation. Bethany uses each season to collaborate with a different charity, promoting their work within the community and supporting their needs. This unique ecosystem allows a percentage of sales from each collection to be donated back to the collaborating charity.
ENAYBALL: a one-of-a-kind visual arts tool created to enable anyone with a physical disability, even the most severely paralysed person, to create art. Founders Eli Heath & Pete Barr have designed a wheelchair attachment that enables the user to lift the nib off the floor remotely – combatting involuntary movements or limited grip/arm strength, e.g. Cerebral Palsy – to create large, expressive paintings. Enayball have worked with disabled artists, most notably Alison Lapper MBE, to empower people to pursue careers in the arts. Enayball has enabled art therapy and rehabilitation for Stroke patients, whilst increasing dexterity and can also be used to manage behavioural issues (e.g. Aspergers).
MAKE YOUR OWN MASTERS (MYOM): an affordable postgraduate level art and design learning programme that doesn’t leave students in eyewatering debt. Having completed her masters independently, Stacie Woolsey was inspired to create affordable and accessible high-level education for those driven to succeed. MYOM will improve diversity within the art and design industry while building a community, attitude, and movement that is supportive – a professional network for disadvantaged students.
STANDING OVATION PROJECT: seeks to build a community hub in Birmingham via in-house workshops to develop a series of skills including music production, DJing, and singing skills, whilst building upon important softer social skills. Already working with 54 schools in 13 cities across the East Midlands, West Midlands, and London, Standing Ovation Project seeks to further expand their reach across the UK and uplift children most in need.
WORD ON THE CURB LTD: a youth insight and content agency, which stands to connect with millennial and Gen-Z audiences through co-created digital campaigns whilst upskilling individuals from disenfranchised backgrounds in film production in the process. Co-founders Ndubuisi Uchea & Hayel Wartemberg have built a community of 120,000 followers & subscribers as they aim to provide these types of young creatives with the experience, skills and network to fill the employment gap.
With the creative industries contributing more than £100 billion to the UK economy every year, DBACE supports young UK-based entrepreneurs driven by a mission to build and sustain social value through enterprise. The programme is at the heart of Deutsche Bank’s global social enterprise programme, Made for Good, and has been delivered in partnership with not-for-profit creative industries incubator MeWe360 since 2019.
Five winners were announced on Tuesday 30th June via Zoom with winners, judges and facilitators streamed live via MeWe360’s YouTube channel. You can still catch the video.
Lareena Hilton, Global Head of Brand Communications & CSR, Deutsche Bank, says: “2020 has been a year like no other for everyone. The impact of COVID-19 for the creative industries is set to be catastrophic, but some of the most innovative thinkers make up the sector. These five winners have shown clear passion and drive, which combined with the support of DBACE will help ensure they continue to tackle significant issues in society, despite the hurdles.”
Kevin Osborne, founder and CEO, MeWe360 says: “We need socially minded creative entrepreneurs. We always have, but perhaps this need is more critical than ever. We need programmes like MeWe’s Incubator Programme to deliver tailored business and leadership support to people from all backgrounds. We need initiatives like DBACE which celebrate these entrepreneurs and funds their development, and we need partnerships, like that between Deutsche Bank and MeWe360, to combine our resources and skills to deliver this essential support to the 5 worthy winners of this year’s DBACE programme.”
About DBACE
DBACE supports visionary creative entrepreneurs between the ages of 18-30 who are driven by a mission to create and sustain social value through their enterprise. DBACE aims to reach ambitious individuals from all backgrounds with ideas that will improve the lives of others and the communities we live in. Deutsche Bank is partnering with MeWe360 to deliver this unique programme.
About Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank provides commercial and investment banking, retail banking, transaction banking and asset and wealth management products and services to corporations, governments, institutional investors, small and medium-sized businesses, and private individuals. Deutsche Bank is Germany’s leading bank, with a strong position in Europe and a significant presence in the Americas and Asia Pacific.
Deutsche Bank has a long history of championing initiatives that drive positive change in society and is committed to helping build the long-term success of the UK creative industries. The global social enterprise programme Made for Good supports the success of all kinds of entrepreneurial ventures that create wider social good, including microenterprises, start-ups, non-profits and commercial businesses. The Awards are a natural extension of the longstanding commitment Deutsche Bank has to enabling economic growth and societal progress by creating positive impact in communities around the world.
About MeWe360
MeWe360 is a UK social enterprise incubator for the creative industries. A not for profit, charitable organisation, MeWe360’s mission is to uncover the UK’s hidden leadership talent so that entrepreneurs from all backgrounds can develop thriving enterprises. MeWe360 has a roster of high calibre industry mentors and consultants as well as a vibrant membership network of creatives from across the UK. MeWe360 was established in 2012 by Kevin Osborne, a social entrepreneur with over 25 years’ experience developing talent in the creative industries. Current funders include Arts Council England and The Arts Impact Fund.