Additional grant funding announced to help charities and social Enterprises grow and become investment ready
New grants up to £15,000 now available to charities, social enterprises and community organisations to help them become investment ready. The newly refreshed programme once again opens its doors to charities, social enterprises, and community organisations looking to develop to the next stage and move confidently towards investment readiness.
Building on eight years of successful grant funding for social sector organisations, the Reach Fund has been relaunched to provide grants to charities, social enterprises, and community organisations across England that are ready to scale up and become investment ready.
Flexible finance
Over 1,000 charities and social enterprises benefited from previous Reach Fund support. The grants provided organisations with the support and funding to implement their investment readiness plan which resulted in almost 60% of grantees successfully raising investment after receiving Reach.
Flexible grants between £5,000 and £15,000 will be made available to those organisations who are close to securing social investment but need help in unlocking the last requirements to access investment, such as accessing external consultancy skills to develop business plans and financial forecasts.
Expanding our reach
The refreshed Reach Fund, run by Social Investment Business, and funded by Access – The Foundation for Social Investment, will now work with an even wider and more diverse range of organisations to ensure more social sector organisations, looking to strengthen their business model.
Organisations looking to access a Reach Fund grant need to be referred by one of the Access Point organisations. Access Points are social investors approved by the Reach Fund who refer organisations they are working with to apply for grants.
Investment for resilience
Far too many charities and social enterprises lack access to the finance that would strengthen their business models and achieve financial independence. Investment has the power to transform the resilience of social organisations, and for many the Reach Fund was a key step in making that a reality.
Gasworks Docks Partnership
With support from the Reach Fund, the Gasworks Docks Partnership were able to turn their passion for Cody Dock into a credible long-term plan, strengthening their business model and unlocking over £3.3 million of investment.
That boost helped them bring their vision to life, add new studios, an arts venue, and a café, all while shifting from heavy grant dependency to 90% self-sustainability in just two and a half years. Today, Cody Dock thrives as a place shaped by local people, proving just how far a small grant can go to unlock growth.
Simplified process
The re-launched Reach Fund also builds on learning from previous grantees, ensuring applications are more streamlined, a new user-friendly website, and improved communication with Access Points for a smoother experience all round.
To find out more about the Reach Fund, or for a full list of Access Points, charities, social enterprises and community organisations can visit the SIB website.
Nick Temple OBE, Chief Executive of Social Investment Business says:
“We’re delighted to be continuing with Reach into its ninth year supporting the sector. Charities and social enterprises often need just one final boost to unlock investment and move confidently towards long-term resilience. We have seen in the last eight years that Reach can provide that final boost – and help organisations to expand their services and grow their impact.
We are privileged to work with so many trusted partners as our Access Points, and we are fully committed in working together so that we can help even more organisations with the re-launch of Reach”.