# New £10 million Big Potential Fund to help charities ‘get investment ready’

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2014/02/27/new-10m-big-potential-fund-help-charities-get-investment-ready/
- Published: 2014-02-27T10:17:06+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

The Big Lottery Fund has announced Big Potential, a £10 million fund designed to
help charities and social enterprises access finance. This should help them improve
their scale, capacity and sustainability. It is designed for organisations “at the
beginning of their social investment journey”.

Voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations can register interest in
the fund now, and [applications for funding](http://www.sibgroup.org.uk/bigpotential)
will be accepted from March 2014.

The programme of funding and support will be delivered by the Social Investment 
Business in partnership with Charity Bank, Social Enterprise UK, Locality and the
University of Northampton.

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Eligible organisations will be able to access specialist support from these partners
before they make an application for grants between £25,000 and £75,000 to undertake
more in-depth investment [readiness work](https://www.curriculosolutions.com/how-do-we-empower-you)
with one of Big Potential’s approved providers.

Big Potential was developed in response to findings in a [report on the social investment market](http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk/research/social-investment)
commissioned by the Big Lottery Fund and carried out by ClearlySo and New Philanthropy
Capital.

Jonathan Jenkins, Chief Executive of the Social Investment Business, said:

“We have seen the impact that this combination of financial and business support
can have in helping charities and social enterprises develop their business models,
and it is good for the sector that more organisations will now be able to access
this kind of support through the Big Potential programme.”

Nat Sloane, Big Lottery Fund England Chair, added:

“Providing support for charities and social enterprises to help them access finance
is a key priority of our social investment strategy in England and very important
in these difficult times. With this appointment we are glad to be in a position 
to offer support to VCSE organisations, that want to scale up and become more sustainable
so they can better serve those most in need.

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