Big Issue Invest has come together with other organisations including The Key Fund, Resonance, the School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) and UnLtd to deliver £18.7 million in grants, with support from CAF Venturesome, the Young Foundation and Ashoka.
The Social Enterprise Fund will provide essential financial support between £10,000 and £300,000 to help social enterprises during COVID-19. The first round of applications closed on the 20th July but the second round will re-open on the 13th August.
This has been made possible thanks to The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK.
The UK’s 100,000 social enterprises have been at the heart of community survival and recovery during this crisis, from making PPE for health workers, to providing food and connection in their neighbourhoods.
The Social Enterprise Support Fund responds to an urgent need in the sector to help social enterprises change the way they work, make their spaces COVID-secure, and manage liquidity during the next six months.
The fund is aimed at social enterprises supporting people at high health risk from COVID-19, and those supporting people facing increased social and economic challenges as a result of COVID-19.