Words by Smiley Team
The second round of The Social Enterprise Support Fund, delivering nearly £19 million of National Lottery funding, to help social enterprises during COVID-19, reopened for applications.
In the first round the fund received over 500 applications, and by 6th August had agreed to support over 180 social enterprises across the length and breadth of England.
The Social Enterprise Support Fund was established in partnership by The National Lottery Community Fund and five social enterprise support agencies.
Thanks to National Lottery players, £18.7 million of National Lottery funding has been committed to the fund to be used to provide grants to social enterprise organisations that are best placed to support local, vulnerable communities in response to the COVID-19 crisis.
This National Lottery funding is part of The National Lottery Community Fund’s wider COVID-19 emergency response for communities.
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.
Vulnerable people need this support more than ever, but social ventures are struggling to make enough income to meet this need. Research shows that this crisis is disproportionately hurting communities who already experience social and economic inequalities.
The fund has made a commitment to ensure that the grants reach businesses that are led by people most impacted by Coronavirus.
The partnership has a shared goal of 30% of grants going to people who use their first-hand experience of a social issue to create positive change, and after the first round, they have exceeded that goal.
The support agencies delivering the Social Enterprise Support Fund have come together around a common purpose and shared principles of fairness, flexibility, inclusivity, accountability and transparency. Through this partnership, the funds will be able to reach those who need it the most and enable communities to build back better.
Celebrating the success of the fund to date, Mark Norbury, Chief Executive, said:
“We put out a call for social enterprises offering vital services and solutions to communities throughout England. It’s clear from the numbers of social enterprises applying for grants that there remains a huge need. We’re really proud to be able to support so many critical ventures during this time – with social entrepreneurs from Black, Asian, and minority ethnic backgrounds, disabled people, and older entrepreneurs really well-represented in this funding round. We hope to see even more applying as the next round opens this week.”
