Funding opportunity for community businesses
Melanie May | 24 September 2020 | News
Support is available for community businesses through a new £5m Community Business Renewal scheme from Power to Change.
Power to Change is launching a new £5 million package of support to help community businesses affected by the Covid-19 crisis to adapt, renew and rebuild their businesses so they can remain financially viable and best serve their local communities during the pandemic’s ‘new normal’.
The Community Business Renewal scheme has been designed by Power to Change based on evidence and input from partners and community businesses themselves. It aims to support community businesses in a variety of ways and working with partners it will include:
- A new fund offering unrestricted grants supporting resilience, renewal and restructure of community businesses
- Capacity strengthening support to help community businesses increase knowledge, resilience and equip themselves to ‘re-boot’ successfully
- Two match-funding programmes to support community businesses with different types of fundraising
- Tailored support to help community businesses protect community assets
- A programme of work highlighting the role community business can play in the economic recovery
Vidhya Alakeson, CEO of Power to Change, said:
“As the country continues to adjust to a constantly shifting ‘new normal’, we know there are tough times ahead. In order to survive community businesses need to adapt and build long-term resilience. Community Business Renewal will help communities take the steps they need now to put them in the best possible position to weather future uncertainty, so they are able to continue serving their communities for years to come.”
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This new £5million package is the second part of Power to Change’s £12million response to the Covid-19 pandemic. In April 2020, the trust announced emergency funding to support community businesses during lockdown. It awarded more than 356 grants totalling £6.75million to community businesses in England.
Main image: Previous recipient of Power to Change funding Bread+Rosies. It received a £25,000 grant to help it survive lockdown and diversify its offering. This has enabled the organisation to undertake a partial reopening; invest in video conferencing facilities to better meet business needs in its meeting rooms and co-working spaces; and further develop its online shop.
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.