South East Cornwall pioneer Nikki Markham has been shortlisted for the Social Entrepreneur of the Year 2017 award – and you can vote for her to win.

Nikki is one of five finalists who have been selected from the Lloyds Bank Social Entrepreneurs Scale Up Programme, in partnership with School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE), and jointly funded by Big Lottery Fund, who are in with a chance of winning £10,000.

Nikki, from Callington, is the founder of Battling On, a social enterprise which supports veterans to reintegrate into civilian life.

The veterans are trained and employed as mentors and instructors to support vulnerable young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and adults with disabilities.

Nikki said: ‘Winning the award would have a huge impact on Battling On. Being based in the rural South West, we have very poor transport networks. We would use the money to buy a community bus to support our volunteering initiatives, and it would enable us to reach the elderly and vulnerable within our community who are suffering from social isolation.’

Voting is open to the public at www.the-sse.org/SEYA and closes on October 31. 

The winner will be announced on November 16.