Never let it be said we shy away from the big issues in the competitions we highlight! Although this is at the high end of what we cover (and is not just a UK award) I thought we should give this highly important award a mention.

The Skoll Awards for Social Entrepreneurship support social entrepreneurs whose work has the potential for large-scale influence on critical challenges of our time: tolerance and human rights, health, economic and social equity, peace and security, institutional responsibility, and environmental sustainability. These issues are at the heart of the foundation’s vision of empowering people to create a peaceful, prosperous, sustainable world. Within these issues, Skoll is particularly interested in applications from social entrepreneurs working in five critical sub-issue areas that they consider to threaten the survival of humanity – climate change, nuclear proliferation, pandemics, conflict in the Middle East and water scarcity.

The Skoll Awards provide later-stage, or mezzanine, funding. In most cases, the grant is provided for core supportto help organizations expand their programs and capacity to deliver long-term, sustainable equilibrium change. The Skoll Awards are not intended for new or early-stage programmes or initiatives. Programmes submitted for consideration should have a track record of no less than three years.

Deadline for Applying:
Applications are accepted and reviewed on a year-round basis, with successful applicants receiving initial funding installments shortly after decisions are made. The current deadline is February 17, 2010 with the  internal review process for these applications taking a minimum of six months to be completed. Awards will be presented publicly at a ceremony at the Skoll World Forum, which occurs at the end of every March in Oxford, England.

How to Apply

You can find out more about the Skoll Awards here