Social Enterprise Support Fund successfully delivers £16.1 million in grant funding to 500 social enterprises.

The Social Enterprise Support Fund has provided grants of between £10,000 and £100,000 to support social enterprises in England impacted by COVID-19.

We came together for the second time as a consortium with our friends Big Issue Invest, Key Fund, the School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE) and UnLtd, in partnership with The National Lottery Community Fund to deliver the Fund, a two-year programme which has helped social enterprises across England rebuild and grow their income, enabling them to support communities to recover from the pandemic.

The Fund was launched to provide vital and rapid financial support to help social enterprises in England support their communities to recover from the pandemic and has delivered £16.1 million in grants and helped 500 enterprises across the length and breadth of England. The fund was made possible thanks to The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest funder of community activity in the UK.

The fund had a strong commitment to inclusion and equity, supporting people who were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, it aimed to award more than 50% of grants to organisations led by people who are from a Black, Asian, minority ethnic background and/or are disabled. In addition it awarded more than 6.6% of grants to organisations led by people identifying as LGBTQIA+ based on national estimates of representation. And it awarded at least 50% of grants to organisations led by people who are women and/or non-binary gendered or intersex.  

In fact, here’s where the partnership landed:

• 1,507 applications were assessed with a total application value of £66.1m
• £16.15m has been allocated to 500 social enterprises with an average award of £32.3k
• 43.5% of grantees are led by people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds
• 32.8% of social enterprises awarded a grant are led by disabled people
• 18.2% of grants went to leaders of social enterprises who identify as LGBTQIA+
• 75.4% of grants went to leaders of social enterprises who are women or from marginalised genders

One social enterprise that benefited from the fund is Leicester based Highfields Centre (HC) which is in the heart of a vibrant and diverse community. This diversity is reflected by up to 65 different languages spoken locally & includes many new arrivals, especially from India/Bangladesh/Pakistan/Somalia/North Africa/Middle East/Eastern Europe. It’s located in Leicester’s second most deprived ward, according to the Index of Multiple Deprivation. Highfields Centre’s wide range of services includes adult education, employability, arts, sports, wellbeing, youth work, and helps individuals overcome isolation and develop confidence.

Priya Thamotheram, Head of Centre at Highfields said
“This funding will ensure our continued operation as a much-needed community anchor/hub for the largely disadvantaged Racial Minority populated communities in Highfields and enable our co-located partners’ much-needed services (pre-school/gym/refugees/new arrivals) be provided.

“Moreover, given our successful track record of overcoming various challenges over the last 4 decades, and the heightened need for our services as our local communities emerge from the lockdown, we’ll be best placed to respond to those heightened needs. In particular, the funding will cover the costs of bringing our H-Café service into use, it will also help with bringing our 3 arts studios into regular use, through the employment of two half-time audio-visual arts workers. This will help us considerably, as we get underway post Pandemic.”

Emma Corrigan, England Director at The National Lottery Community Fund said
“We’re extremely proud that this funding has reached almost 500 social enterprises across England, with a focus on supporting those that are led by and for marginalised communities.

“Thanks to National Lottery players, grants distributed through the Social Enterprise Support Fund have helped social enterprises to rebuild and recover from the pandemic, allowing them to continue making a vital difference in the communities they serve and supporting local people to prosper and thrive.”

Daniel Brewer, CEO, Resonance said
“We are so proud to have been part of the Social Enterprise Support Fund, which has provided vital funding to enterprises who are at the forefront of helping some of the most marginalized and deprived communities in England recover and rebuild following the Pandemic. Across the two-year programme Resonance distributed nearly £6m to 222 organizations”

About The National Lottery Community Fund

We are the largest funder of community activity in the UK – we support people and communities to prosper and thrive.

We’re proud to award money raised by National Lottery players to communities across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and to work closely with Government to distribute vital grants and funding from key Government programmes and initiatives.

Our funding has a positive impact and makes a difference to people’s lives. We support projects focussed on things that matter, including economic prosperity, employment, young people, mental health, loneliness and helping the UK reach NET Zero by 2050.

Thanks to the support of National Lottery players, our funding is open to everyone. We’re privileged to be able to work with the smallest of local groups right up to UK-wide charities, enabling people and communities to bring their ambitions to life.  

National Lottery players raise over £30 million each week for good causes throughout the UK. Since The National Lottery began in 1994, £43 billion has been raised for good causes. National Lottery funding has been used to support over 635,000 projects - 255 projects per postcode area.