Dundee Social Enterprise Network

19/10/2026

🎉 A huge congratulations to our DSEN member Cake or Dice

What a fantastic achievement being named Scotland’s Board Game Café of the Year 2026/27 at the Scotland Prestige Awards!

Since opening in 2023 Cake or Dice has created so much more than a café, providing a welcoming, inclusive space that brings people together through gaming, great food, coffee and community.

It's brilliant to see a Dundee social enterprise receiving national recognition for the fantastic work they do!

👏 A massive well done to the entire Cake or Dice team from everyone at DSEN. Very well deserved!

14/10/2026

🏆 DSEN AWARDS 2026 - TICKET SALES CLOSING SOON! 🏆

There’s still time to secure your place at one of the highlights of Dundee’s social enterprise calendar! 🎉

Join us for the DSEN Awards 2026 as we come together to recognise and celebrate the incredible organisations, individuals and social enterprises making a difference across our city.

📅 Friday 13th November 2026
📍 Apex City Quay Hotel, Dundee
🕖 7pm arrival | 7.30pm start
🎟️ £35 per person | £300 for a table of 10

✨ Your ticket includes:

🥂 Welcome drink on arrival
🍽️ Delicious three-course meal
🍷 Half a bottle of w**e per person
🏆 DSEN Awards ceremony
🎶 DJ to finish off the celebrations!

At DSEN we believe everyone should have the opportunity to celebrate the fantastic work happening across our sector. That's why we work hard to heavily subsidise ticket prices, making this special evening as affordable and accessible as possible for our members.

⚠️ Don't miss out! Last year's event was a sell-out and with ticket sales closing soon we'd encourage you to secure your place now!

📧 Ready to book? Simply email [email protected] with the number of tickets you'd like to reserve. Booking confirmation and payment details will follow.

We can't wait for another fantastic evening of celebration, recognition and bringing Dundee's social enterprise community together!

08/10/2026

Women's Fund for Scotland is OPEN for funding applications! - Please find below further information.

Does your organisation help women and girls heal, thrive or rise? We’d love to hear about your work.

Grants of up to £5,000 are available to eligible organisations across Scotland, supporting:
✨ Heal - spaces and support to recover from violence, marginalisation and injustice.
✨ Thrive - opportunities to build skills, confidence, leadership and creativity.
✨ Rise - overcoming poverty and isolation, building connections and working towards a more equal Scotland.

📅 Apply by 30 October 2026.

Read the full criteria and find out how to apply:
👉 https://www.foundationscotland.org.uk/apply-for-funding/funding-available/womens-fund-for-scotland

Know a group doing brilliant work with women and girls? Give them a nudge - or share this post!

07/10/2026

Looking for something fun to do with the family this weekend?

Our member ScrapAntics has a fantastic programme of Family Club activities coming up, giving families the chance to get creative, explore nature and try something new together!

This Saturday, families can join the Wildflower Rave featuring live music from Peace and Jam. 🎶🌼

With even more exciting events planned throughout the month, head over to ScrapAntics to see what’s coming up and get involved!

30/09/2026

📣 Funding Socials -Meet Funders, Find New Resources & Connect with Your Peers

A great opportunity for DSEN members looking to grow their organisation, explore new funding opportunities and make useful connections!

Social Investment Scotland, in partnership with Firstport and other funders and support organisations, is bringing its Funding Socials event to Dundee.

📅 Thursday 29th October 2026
⏰ 10am - 1.15pm
📍 The Circle, Dudhope Castle, Dundee

The session is aimed at established charities and social enterprises with ambitions to grow or scale their impact. It’s an opportunity to:

• Meet and chat directly with funders and support organisations
• Explore funding and social investment opportunities
• Find out about resources available to support your organisation
• Connect with other charities and social enterprises
• Ask questions about funding and future growth

Representatives from Social Investment Scotland, Firstport, The National Lottery Heritage Fund Scotland and The National Lottery Community Fund will be involved, with networking over tea and coffee and a light lunch to finish the session.

👉 Find out more and book your place!

We're heading to Dundee for Funding Socials! It will be an inspiring morning of networking, learning, and practical advice for established social enterprises and charities.

This FREE event is your chance to:
✅ Connect with local social enterprises and funders
✅ Explore funding options and support available
✅ Share ideas and build partnerships.

Join us:
📍 The Circle, Dundee
📅 Thursday, 29 October 2026
🕒 10:00AM - 1:15PM

We will be joined by speakers from across the social enterprise sector, including Firstport, The Circle, The National Lottery Community Fund Scotland and The National Lottery Heritage Fund Scotland.

Find out more and register now: https://buff.ly/P7nN7rf

23/09/2026

𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗥𝗘𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥 - 𝗡𝗢𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦 𝗖𝗟𝗢𝗦𝗘 𝗧𝗢𝗗𝗔𝗬 𝗔𝗧 𝟱𝗣𝗠!

There are only a few hours left to submit your nominations for the DSEN Awards 2026!

Help us celebrate the incredible social enterprises, volunteers, trustees and individuals making a difference across Dundee.

✨ Sustainability Champion
✨ Innovation Award
✨ Volunteer / Trustee Recognition Award
✨ Youth Targeted Initiative Award
✨ Leadership Award
✨ Dundee Social Enterprise of the Year

⏰ Nominations close TODAY 23rd September at 5pm!

👉 Get your nominations in before the deadline:
https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/KH6F0gAAsa

Let’s shine a spotlight on the brilliant people and organisations making an impact across Dundee’s social enterprise community!

17/09/2026

🏆 𝐃𝐒𝐄𝐍 𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐒 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 - 𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍 𝐎𝐍𝐄 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐍𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐄!

There’s less than a week left to get your nominations in for the DSEN Awards 2026!

This is your chance to recognise the incredible social enterprises, volunteers, trustees and individuals making a real difference across Dundee.

Whether it’s an organisation delivering outstanding work, a volunteer who consistently goes above and beyond, or a leader making a positive impact – we want to hear about them!

This year’s categories are:

🌱 Sustainability Champion
💡 Innovation Award
🙌 Volunteer / Trustee Recognition Award
🌟 Youth Targeted Initiative Award
👏 Leadership Award
🏆 Dundee Social Enterprise of the Year

👉 Submit your nominations here:
https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/KH6F0gAAsa

📅 Nominations close at 5pm on Wednesday 23rd September 2026.

Don’t leave it until the last minute! Help us shine a spotlight on the people and organisations doing brilliant things across Dundee’s social enterprise community.

16/09/2026

𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐅𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐲!

Today we’re celebrating our fantastic DSEN members who are using fitness as a force for good across Dundee.

From creating inclusive opportunities to get active, to supporting physical and mental wellbeing, building confidence and bringing communities together - the impact goes far beyond fitness itself.

A huge shout-out to all our DSEN members helping people to move more, connect more and feel better. 👏

Keep doing what you do!

11/09/2026

🎉 Celebrating 25 years of Hot Chocolate Trust!

Our DSEN member Hot Chocolate Trust is marking an incredible 25 years of supporting young people in Dundee – and everyone is invited to join the celebrations!

📅 Wednesday 30th September
⏰ 6-8pm
📍 The Steeple, Nethergate, Dundee

👏 A huge congratulations to the whole Hot Chocolate Trust team on this brilliant milestone!

09/09/2026

This week our CEO Fergus attended the most recent meeting of Dundee Dots held at the Change Centre in Dundee.

Fergus said “It is great to see projects like this running as it encourages charities to work together and support the overall sector. Its an excellent example of what DSEN wants to see and support in Dundee to make the Third Sector and Social Enterprise sector a thriving part of communities.”

Danielle Gaffney du Plooy working alongside Dundee Changemakers Hub, who are heading up the project stated -

“ Dundee Dots brought organisations together again for another lively networking and trading session at the Change Centre, hosted by Street Soccer. We explored partnership working, shared skills and ideas, and saw some great live trading and new connections being made.
Dundee Dots is a relationship-led exchange network helping organisations from different sectors across Dundee share skills, spaces, resources, knowledge and support. The aim is to make better use of what we already have and strengthening connections across the city”

The next Dundee Dots networking session will take place in November at Showcase the Street.

Sign up to the Dundee Dots newsletter here to stay up to date and book your space - https://www.dundee-changemakers.net/dundeedots