Last week I went along to a session to become a member of ELSIE – Leeds Community Enterprise Accelerator. This is a really exciting new network set up to be:

A source of wisdom, advice and practical support that can be used by anyone in Leeds who is undertaking any kind of enterprise.

What particularly excites me about this community development initiative is the desire to break down the barriers between community groups, the third sector and businesses. The vision is to support anyone doing anything enterprising in Leeds be that a business start-up or a group of people trying to help young people in their area or someone with an exciting new idea they want to get off the ground.

ELSIE will be holding a two hour meeting once a month to consider 4 Leeds-based projects to brainstorm an issue they might have and come up with solutions. The meetings will also act as a network gathering as each person involved begins to learn what skills and connections members have.

I’m dead excited about being involved in this. Do visit the website to find out more if it interests you. ELSIE is the brainchild of Mike Chitty – follow him on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/#!/mikechitty