What inspired you to start a social enterprise? Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share via Email Leaders from across the sector tell us why they decided to set up their social business Charlotte Seager @CharlotteSeager Email Wed 30 Apr 2014 07.30 EDT Last modified on Thu 18 Sep 2014 03.46 EDT Hannah Catmur is a digital designer and social entrepreneur who founded Get Out! Explorers, a social gaming platform that inspires children to play outdoors. When Catmur noticed children were playing more online games and less outside, she felt inspired to start an enterprise which connected these two worlds.“When researching current trends in technology and its effect on young people, it became apparent that devices and digital were becoming increasingly popular and widely accessible," she says. "However, a bigger problem emerging is that children are spending less time outdoors in nature. I noticed very quickly that there was an opportunity to combine these two worlds for a positive outcome and Get Out! Explorers was born – the combination of online and offline worlds to inspire children to reconnect with the natural world.” Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Ben Ramsden is a social entrepreneur and campaigner who in 2001 quit his corporate job to work in developing countries. When he returned, he felt moved to set up a social business with the aim to link some of the poorest people in the world to some of the richest. Thus Pants to Poverty was born.“Between 2001 -2004 I lived and worked with several rural tribal communities around the world," he explains. "While there I saw first-hand the unchecked expansion of climate and economic chaos due to the short termism of governments, the way charities are shackled to their donors and businesses are so short-sighted they only see the world in one financial dimension. "This inspired me to set up Pants to Poverty to prove that a business with goals aligned to those of society and the planet represent the greatest business opportunity of our generation … and it’s working." Share on Facebook Share on Twitter After volunteering to tutor children in maths, Johan Wendt decided to leave his career in engineering to do something he felt passionate about. He founded Mattecentrum, a social enterprise that helps more than 160,000 children and adolescents with studying maths.“While studying at the institute of technology, I volunteered to tutor my neighbours’ kids in maths for a couple of years," he says. " This meant so much to me, I enjoyed every single minute. I also saw how important it was for them – they couldn’t get any help anywhere else. "After pursuing a totally failed career as an engineer I decided to do something that I loved. I started a NGO and began giving free tutoring in maths to kids in Stockholm. Today one in five kids between nine and 19 years old in Sweden study maths with my organisation every month. I also started the organisation in Denmark where we are slightly smaller, we tutor 35,000 kids every month.” Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Having been offered a place at Oxford University, Matt Fountain ditched academia to start up the Freedom Bakery. This enterprise aims to help reduce reoffending by training inmates. Matt was inspired to start his enterprise after a jailed acquaintance struggled to find work when released."My inspiration came from an Italian charity called San Patrignano. The bakery is staffed by recovering addicts. I took it as a lesson in the power of humanity that those leaving were not only completely free of drugs but also master bakers, and knew we could achieve similar things.” For more news, opinions and ideas about the social enterprise sector, join our community Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Topics Social enterprise network