By Dominic Casciani BBC News Online community affairs reporter

Tony Cesay: Boxer and social entrepreneur

When you hear the word entrepreneur, who do you think of? Richard Branson? Stelios from Easyjet?

Would you think of Chrissie Townsend, a former teenage mum who heads an action group that brought the first bus to an isolated crime-ridden estate? Or boxer Tony Cesay who uses sport and nutrition to build self-esteem in marginalised inner city kids?

If entrepreneurial spirit is about spotting an opportunity and knowing how to make a difference, then that describes both of them and their fellow graduates from the School for Social Entrepreneurs.

WHO MAKES A SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR? Community activists People from business Voluntary sector workers People with an idea

Six years ago as Labour came to power, social entrepreneurs was a phrase being thrown around by Third Way thinkers looking for new ways to regenerate society.

Their argument was simple. Society has problems. Neither government nor business had shown they could fix them. Perhaps it was time to invest in people at the coalface.

For the late Lord Young of Darlington, that idea crystallised in 1997 into a school teaching entrepreneurial and business skills to people wanting to work for public good rather than private profit.

Michael Young, the author of Labour's radical 1945 manifesto, was himself a social innovator. He dreamt up the Open University and founded the Consumers' Association. The school was his last big idea.

Today it is developing regional bases and specialist courses to teach successful entrepreneurs how to expand their projects.

So what makes a social entrepreneur?

Skills in demand

"People get stuck on the idea," says Rowena Young (no relation), chief executive of the SSE.

UPHILL BATTLE At the first meetings, I had to go to a library to look up the words they were using Social Entrepreneur Chrissie Townsend

"Michael Young had the conviction there could be a lot more people active for the benefit of their community and society.

"People think an entrepreneur is only about making a profit. But when you think about it, successful businesses are about people who have good ideas, are good managers and good salesmen.

"The not-for-profit sector needs these skills too. Society needs people who can shape opportunities that others cannot see. Deepening entrepreneurial behaviour is vital."

The school, funded by bodies including the National Lottery and big business, is for anyone who shows their idea has the potential to work within a community.

It could be an arts group for refugees or a social business bringing computers into deprived communities.

Fellows include people of all backgrounds and ages (from mid 20s to mid 70s). Some come from business; others from the charity sector. Some left school with no qualifications.

Business school approach

Students attend business school-like seminars. Tutors provide hard-headed analysis with the emphasis on learning from the experience of others.

A SOCIAL ENTERPRISE Chris Pearman, SSE fellow Set up 'Blitz', east London Company provides IT to community groups Refurbishes old PCs Profits go back into business

They start with the basics like how to run an office, all the way through to marketing.

The Community Action Network, another social enterprise body, surveyed its members and found the biggest problems to getting started were people's attitudes, bureaucracy, initial financing and getting professional skills.

Commonwealth Games boxer Tony Cesay says he was foundering with his plan to take a sports mentoring programme to marginalised children.

"I never thought I could get the funding for what I wanted to do," said Tony.

"The big problem with seeking funding is that councils or other bodies just don't get it if what you are proposing isn't in their 'strategy'."

Since getting training, Tony has professionalized his idea into Kid Gloves and he is now working with teenagers across London.

Chrissie Townsend says the business acumen she picked up helped to break down institutional barriers.

Her community action group in east London began with residents demanding a bus route.

"When I first went to meetings with agencies, I felt intimidated. You don't know their language so you have to learn it word by word.

"I think they are listening more and more to local communities and projects like ours because the government is recognising that change has to come from the bottom up."

More motivation

Supporters of social enterprise say local people are more motivated and in a better position to motivate others.

Leadership for these people is a lonely place to be - they have to be absolutely convincing because everyone else will doubt what they are doing Alastair Wilson, SSE

But equally, it's very difficult to accurately measure its benefit other than in the success of small-scale projects.

Consultants used by the SSE estimate each social enterprise creates an average of five jobs (a small proportion create more than 20). They calculate that for every �10,000 its takes to train a recruit, the return to the community is �100,000.

Alastair Wilson, development director of the SSE, says the driving force behind social entrepreneurs is their commitment to an ideal.

"I think sometimes they have some wooliness with personal confidence as to whether what they are doing the right thing. But that's why we take them for a year to make sure they get the project going.

"Leadership for these people is a lonely place to be. They have to be absolutely convincing because everyone else will doubt what they are doing.

"In the face of this negativity you need a tribe of like-minded people."