Reach Fund extended for 3 years

 

The Foundation for Social Investment (Access) and Social Investment Business have announced that the Reach Fund, the pioneering grant programme which supports charities and social enterprises to take on social investment, will continue for at least a further three years.

Co-operative & Community Finance is one of 24 organisations in England to be approved as an Access Point for the £4m Reach Fund which provides grants to organisations that need specific support to be able to take on a loan. The initiative, funded by Access and managed by Social Investment Business, is designed to test a new model of investment readiness support.

Tim Coomer, Business Development Manager at Co-operative & Community Finance, said: “Since we joined the Reach Fund as an approved social investor or ‘Access Point’ in 2017 we have worked with seven enterprises who, combined, have secured just shy of £100,000 from the Reach Fund. Grants have helped pay for crucial development support, advice, legal work, financial planning, launching share offers and much more, to help get them to a stage we would be willing to lend to them. Not all have secured finance in the end and progress continues to be slow for others but the grants have really helped enterprises get prepared to take on finance either to start-up or grow their co-op or social enterprise.”

Could you be eligible?

Reach Fund can offer up to £15k in grant support to get you investment ready. As your nominated Access Point we can help you through the application process. Please note that the Reach Fund is only open to organisations based in England.

You may be a start up organisation who has developed your business plan, but need to work on your financial forecasts or need to pay for professional help to get those last agreements ready to be signed off. Or perhaps you are an established organisation taking on debt for the first time and need someone to review your governance structure or help put financial systems or social impact monitoring in place.

To be eligible to apply with us as your nominated Access Point you need to meet our lending criteria. For further information, go to the Reach Fund website.

If you want to chat through your eligibility or discuss how to apply, please contact Tim Coomer tim@coopfinance.coop or phone 07342 674 673.

Access – The Foundation for Social Investment was launched in early 2015 to bridge the gap between charities and social enterprises and social investors, to help make social investment easier to find and more relevant for those charities and social enterprises. Access is funded by the Cabinet Office, the Big Lottery Fund and Big Society Capital.