Social enterprises in England have final opportunity to apply for £18.7 million grant fund

Social enterprises are being encouraged to apply for the final round of The Social Enterprise Support Fund, which opens for applications on Thursday 10th September.

The Social Enterprise Support Fund was established in partnership by The National Lottery Community Fund and five social enterprise support agencies: Big Issue Invest, The Key Fund, Community Land & Finance CIC (also known as Resonance), the School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) and UnLtd with support from CAF Venturesome, the Young Foundation and Ashoka.  £18.7 million of National Lottery funding has been committed to the fund, made possible by National Lottery players.

The partners behind the scheme understand that social ventures need to plan to weather the ‘perfect storm’ they face: COVID-19 continuing, increased demand for their services, a global recession and the end of short-term Government support.

• The Social Enterprise Support Fund is for social enterprises in England, with an annual income between £25,000 and £1.5 million before COVID-19.
• Grants are available between £10,000 – £300,000, to be spent within six months
• 50% of UnLtd’s grants are ringfenced specifically for Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic, LGBTQI+, Disabled people, or those with personal experience of the social issue they are      working to solve – all partners have committed to ringfencing at least 30% of their grants for this group too
• The Social Enterprise Support Fund can be applied for at http://socialenterprisesupportfund.org.uk/ until 17 September