Foundation Scotland sees surge in enquiries for social investment opportunities
Melanie May | 10 September 2021 | News
Foundation Scotland, Scotland’s community foundation, has seen unprecedented levels of interest in social investment opportunities from social organisations, receiving a typical year’s worth of enquiries in just four weeks.
The surge in enquiries followed the launch of the new blended grant and loan product ‘Investing in Enterprise Fund’ in May. The fund was created by Foundation Scotland following its integration with Resilient Scotland.
The fund can invest up to £500,000 in social enterprises, community organisations and charities. Up to 50% of this can be in the form of a grant and the remainder as a repayable loan. It has an interest rate of 6.1%, and Foundation Scotland invests all returned funds for additional social investment.
Advertisement
Before integrating with Foundation Scotland, the team at Resilient Scotland had already distributed over £11.6 million in blended grant and loan packages to over 100 organisations since 2012. Foundation Scotland has retained the experienced social investment team from Resilient Scotland, building on this through the new ‘Investing in Enterprise Fund’.
Chris Holloway, Head of Social Investment at Foundation Scotland, said:
“We’ve received a phenomenal level of interest in our new Investing in Enterprise Fund since launching in May. It has exceeded all our expectations and can only be viewed as a hugely positive sign as organisations seek to move beyond Covid. We are in the process of recruiting a new Investment Executive to increase our team’s capacity and help manage the growing demand.
“Through our assessments, we are witnessing a clear sense of optimism, diversity and drive for development. Social enterprises are coming to Foundation Scotland for our partnership approach. We offer knowledge, support and experience in addition to the funding, and flexible repayment periods for all funded groups, which has never been more important in current circumstances. We are encouraging interested groups to get in touch to discuss the potential support available.”
Glasgow-based Community Interest Company Agile City has been announced as the first investment for the Foundation in 2021. Agile City creates space for work, events and learning and received £150,000 in combined loan and grant funding to support the opening of its Civic House premises in the centre of the city.
Rob Morrison, Director of Agile City CIC, said:
“The support we’ve received from the team at Foundation Scotland has been instrumental in enabling us to plan, develop and launch our new central premises due to open in Glasgow later this month. The team have offered a real partnership approach to the finance. They have taken the time to understand our business, the challenges and the opportunities presented.
“Together we have worked through scenario planning, discussed key issues we had not considered ourselves, and this relationship support continues beyond the funding decision – they continue to offer support through the length of the partnership.”
Foundation Scotland currently offers new social investment opportunities across 13 of the most disadvantaged local authority areas across Scotland. The Foundation expects to extend the service to the whole of Scotland at a later date, and interested applicants can contact Foundation Scotland to discuss potential opportunities available.
Main image: Foundation Scotland and Agile City. Chris Holloway, Abigale Neate-Wilson and Rob Morrison
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.