Humans prefer pictures to words, and with that in mind Alive and Kicking have mapped out social enterprise in the UK. They've started the map by highlighting International, European, UK and African organisations that are assisting social enterprises. What is interesting about the map is that the core of it is the Social Enterprise Coalition, something Ireland still does not have a version of, a membership and lobbying group. If we had a map of the Irish social enterprise sector I wonder what organisation if any would be at the heart of it? This is an interesting exercise and something the Social Enterprise Taskforce here in Ireland might think about replicating.

Alive & Kicking's vision is of an Africa where every child can play with a real ball, where thousands of jobs are sustained in the production of balls, and where sport contributes to the eradication of deadly disease. Alive & Kicking strives to help children exercise their right to play, to create employment for communities in Africa and to help raise awareness of preventable disease. This is achieved through the African manufacture and distribution of sports balls and the provision of appropriate health awareness materials for young people. Founded in 2004 by an inspirational school teacher, Jim Cogan OBE, Alive & Kicking has rapidly expanded in Kenya and Zambia and has been producing balls in South Africa for a year. Alive & Kicking's employment ethos is to hire local people to run our stitching centres and to have as many of their staff as possible in Africa, not the UK.

Alive and Kicking has plans to expand the map to include the US and all other regions of the world.