Bournemouth-based charity SAMEE, (Support and Mentoring Enabling Entrepreneurship,) which is committed to helping enable disabled people to start their own businesses, is to receive a coveted global award.
In October of this year, the charity was selected from 522 nominations from 90 countries around the world to be part of the Shortlist for a Zero Project Award 2025. It was one of only five UK entries to reach the shortlist.
On International Day of Persons with Disabilities (Tuesday 3rd December) SAMEE revealed it has made the grade and will be recognized as a Zero Project 2025 Awardee and a global disability champion.
The Zero Project is a global, research-driven initiative with a mission to work for a world with zero barriers. It awards exemplary solutions for their innovation, impact, and scalability. More than 350 disability inclusion experts were involved in the selection process, with this year’s research centred on Innovative Solutions in Inclusive Employment and Information and Communication Technology.
It is the SAMEE charity’s uniquely tailored Supported Self Employment Internship that caught the eyes of the judges. The Internship supports people with disabilities to develop the skills needed to run their own businesses. It combines training in all aspects of running a business alongside work placements and mentoring support for a year.
It’s already been quite a month for the charity. Only last week Samee’s CEO and founder Sam Everard FIEP was recognized as one of the hundred most influential disabled individuals in the UK. Noted for her work as a disability changemaker, the 48-year-old entrepreneur, who lives with the debilitating condition of Myalgic encephalomyelitis or chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) made the prestigious Shaw Trust Disability Power 100 list.
Sam said: “My head is still spinning to be honest! I couldn’t believe that a small charity like ours made the Zero Project shortlist in a year with a record number of nominations. To now be an Awardee is incredible! All this, plus being included in the Disability Power 100 list! This month, SAMEE celebrated our eighth birthday – so this is the icing on the cake to be recognised on International Day of Persons with Disabilities with news of this global award.”
She added: “Most satisfying to me is that our project is now recognized as being aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD).”
The SAMEE charity will receive its award at the Zero Project Conference 2025 (5-7 March 2025) at the United Nations Offices in Vienna, Austria, where more than 1000 participants from 100 countries are expected to attend.
Sam Everard FIEP has also been invited to speak at the conference about her charity’s Supported Self Employment Internship. SAMEE’s work will also receive dedicated space in the annual Zero Project Report that will be shared online and in print with disability inclusion experts globally.
