Social Entrepreneurs who are in need of advice can apply to the Mentoring Competition for a chance to win a 2 hour mentoring session by the likes of Claire Dove, CEO of Blackburne House, Big Issue founder John Bird, Julie Harris of Cosmic, Kresse Wesling and Penny Newman, head of Jamie Oliver's Fifteen restaurants and 23 other experienced social entrepreneurs.

To win a session you just have to tell which ambassador you'd like to mentor you and why in 150 words here before the 31 March. Each ambassador will give two hours of intensive business advice and insights to the competition winners.

Pauline Milligan, manager of the Social Enterprise Ambassadors, said the ambassadors were keen to share "their considerable knowledge and experience, their lessons learned and useful tips and tricks to build a successful social enterprise".

Ambassador Tim Campbell, winner of the first series of Alan Sugar's The Apprentice said: "Increasingly I see start ups being founded as social enterprises, which is fantastic. But these businesses face the same challenges as all start ups in surviving their first year and beyond - as well as the additional challenges of meeting social and environmental goals.
"Advice from someone who has gone through the process can be critical and as ambassadors, we have a lot of useful experience - good and bad - to share."

Ambassador Claudine Reid MBE, sees mentoring as central to her success: "Mentoring made all the difference to me. Without it, PJ's wouldn't be where it is today. I want to be able to share what I've learned to help the next generation of social entrepreneurs".

Pauline Milligan added: "We expect a strong response to the competition; the recession has prompted a new surge in entrepreneurial start-ups and as many people realise, they can combine passions with profits by starting a social enterprise."

The Social Enterprise Ambassadors programme was announced in the government’s Social Enterprise Action Plan in November 2006, and aims to raise awareness and foster a culture of social enterprise in England. The programme is funded by the the Government. A consortium of partners led by the Social Enterprise Coalition won the tender to deliver the programme in June 2007. Recruitment of the Ambassadors was completed in autumn 2007, and 30 were selected for the role. As a group, they are diverse and broadly representative of the social enterprise movement as a whole.