The Duke of Gloucester visits Saffron Walden on 28 October to hand Enterprise East its King's Award for helping adults facing barriers to work into jobs.
The Duke of Gloucester will visit Saffron Walden on Wednesday 28 October to present Enterprise East Group CIC with its King’s Award for Enterprise, the national honour it won this year for helping adults who face barriers to work build the skills and confidence to get a job. The visit was announced in a press release the social enterprise sent to us on 13 October.
Enterprise East was named a 2026 recipient of the King’s Award for Enterprise: Promoting Opportunity (through social mobility). It already holds the King’s Award for Voluntary Service, which it received in 2023, and the organisation says winning both places it in “an incredibly select list” of organisations.
What happens on the day
According to the release, the Duke will be welcomed by Mrs Jennifer Tolhurst, His Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Essex. He will then formally present Enterprise East with its Grant of Appointment and the King’s Awards emblem, and hand King’s Award badges to members of the team.
He will meet students, staff, trustees and partners, and watch a musical performance prepared by Enterprise East students. Representatives of Essex County Council, Uttlesford District Council, Saffron Walden Town Council and other local organisations are due to attend.
Samantha McReynolds, Enterprise East’s managing director and founder, said:
“I am honoured and delighted to welcome His Royal Highness The Duke of Gloucester to join us in celebrating our King’s Award for Enterprise. This award, the highest possible accolade for a UK business, recognises our work in breaking down barriers and creating inclusive routes to employment. I am thankful to every single volunteer, staff member, trustee, and supporter of Enterprise East Group, whose tireless efforts have made this achievement possible.”
The students have performed in public before. This is their set at the organisation’s own Above and Beyond Awards in 2025, from Enterprise East’s YouTube channel:
Who Enterprise East works with
Enterprise East is a not-for-profit social enterprise, founded in 2017, for adults facing barriers to employment and inclusion. The release lists who that means: people with learning, physical and sensory disabilities, people with poor mental health, ex-offenders, people overcoming addiction, care leavers, people experiencing homelessness, and low-income families.
Its Inclusion and Thrive programme pairs personalised support with practical training inside the organisation’s own businesses, which its website describes as live, fully operating workplaces.
The flagship is Café Cornell, a community café and training academy that opened on Monday 17 May 2021 in the Cornell Court building off Radwinter Road, Saffron Walden (CB11 3NS). Enterprise East’s site says students there work towards recognised hospitality qualifications alongside staff and volunteers.
The second is ECO Enterprise, a refill shop in Saffron Walden run on the same not-for-profit, training-first model. The group also runs the Cornell Salon and Cornell Health and Beauty, event catering, and community lunches aimed at loneliness and isolation.
What the award recognises
The King’s Award for Enterprise: Promoting Opportunity is given to organisations that help people from disadvantaged backgrounds improve their skills and job prospects. The release calls the King’s Awards for Enterprise the UK’s most prestigious business awards; winners can use the King’s Awards emblem for five years.
Enterprise East’s Our Impact page tells the sort of story the award is about. A student it names as Olly joined in 2023 after college “did not feel like the right path for him”. He started two days a week, learned the café till and service, took his Level 1 Food Hygiene qualification, and is now a paid member of staff in the Eco Enterprise shop.
On its website, the organisation thanked its customers, suppliers and supporters when it announced the award: “Since we started in 2017, our aim has always been to create meaningful opportunities for people who need them most.”
What it means for you
The release describes a presentation for invited guests and partners, and gives no public time or address for it, so this is not an event to turn up to. Opening details for the café are on cafecornell.co.uk and the Enterprise East website, which also lists volunteering and donation routes.
Any adult who faces barriers to work, or who supports someone who does, can find the training programme on the organisation’s employment support page.
We will report from the visit on 28 October.
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