# £5.5 million fund available for social enterprises in North of England and the Midlands

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2016/09/22/5-5m-fund-available-social-enterprises-north-england-midlands/
- Published: 2016-09-22T08:13:22+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**Social enterprises in the North of England and the Midlands can now apply for 
a new £5.5 million fund. The Northern Impact Fund offers grant and unsecured loan
finance to social enterprises.**

It is being made available by [Key Fund](http://thekeyfund.co.uk/), an investor 
in community and social enterprises since 2001. It is designed for new and early
stage enterprises which are seeking finance to support growth.

It is open to applications from social enterprises operating in the Midlands, North
East, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber. It is aimed to help cover the initial
costs related to social impact, such as investing in training for young people and
staff, as the enterprise gets up and running.

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![Members of Barnsley Community Build](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.cloud/2016/
09/barnsley-community-build.jpg)

_“Without the Key Fund support, we’d be finished. They’ve handed us at least two‘
get out of jail’ cards. Without them we wouldn’t be here today.” – Barnsley Community
Build_

 

## Growth Fund

The Northern Impact Fund has received support from the Growth Fund,  an initiative
of Access, the Foundation for Social Investment.  The Growth Fund has been designed
to increase the availability of small, affordable, unsecured loans for charities
and social enterprises.

The Growth Fund currently stands at £45m and provides a mixture of loan from Big
Society Capital and grant from the Big Lottery Fund, to social investors across 
England.

Seb Elsworth, Access’s Chief Executive, said:

> “The blend of loan and grant, which we make available to social investors, like
> the Key Fund, means that they can provide smaller loans on affordable terms with
> appropriate support. We are also encouraging the development of partnerships which
> can help to open access to social investment for more charities and social enterprises
> to help them to sustain and grow their impact.”

 

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