Profit with Purpose Shows the Way Ahead: Investment available for businesses that save people and the planet.
Celebrating 20 years of investing in enterprises that put people and the planet at the heart of their business, Key Fund has announced £5m of finance is now available for communities across the North.
The ‘alternative bank’ is inviting people who want to scale up or set up a social enterprise to access the blended grant and loan finance offer as it marks 20 years of investing in 2020.
One such enterprise – Barnsley Community Build - backed by Key Fund demonstrates powerful impact in a deprived community.
Matt Smith, CEO of Key Fund, said: “Social enterprises are simply businesses with a social or environmental mission at their heart. With 20 years’ experience, we know what works, how to support social entrepreneurs, and how to sustain businesses. Over the years, this movement has grown and is now at the forefront of tackling society’s biggest challenges, from homelessness, addiction, loneliness, poverty and inequality to the environment, with community-led green energy schemes, projects tackling food waste, and recycling enterprises.”
To date, the anti-poverty organisation has invested £54M in social enterprises – businesses that put people and the planet at the heart of their enterprise.
Over two decades, Key Fund has given business support and finance to over 2,500 organisations, enabling 1,354 safeguarding 2,171 jobs and creating 520 new businesses across the North and the Midlands.
All the businesses Key Fund supports have been turned down by mainstream banks or lenders. 80% of investments are in businesses that operate in the top 30% most deprived areas on the indices of multiple deprivation.
Matt said: “Against a backdrop of austerity and rising inequality, local people are taking control of the issues that matter to them with real passion. Social entrepreneurs are remarkable individuals working at the coalface of their communities, offering very real solutions to endemic problems. They transform lives.”
For more info, go to: thekeyfund.co.uk
BUILDING STRONGER COMMUNITIES
Key Fund has invested in Barnsley Community Build since 2005, proving long-term support can have powerful impact on job creation in the most deprived areas.
Who: Barnsley Community Build (BCB) is a registered charity with a trading arm, BCB Trading Ltd. They develop and deliver a range of community services, and provide employment and training in the construction industry with opportunities for some of the most difficult to engage local residents, mainly long-term unemployed or young people not in employment, education or training.
Their story:
A former industrial town in decline, there was a need to nurture new employment to address social disadvantage.
Barnsley Community Build was created by Barnsley Development Agency and Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council in April 2001. It has since evolved into a self-sustaining social enterprise.
BCB runs community-based construction projects, and industry recognised training, providing valuable skilled employment & training for the unemployed or young adults that have been categorised as NEETs. Their services include construction, gardening, painting and decorating, social housing for people who are homeless and recovering from mental health services and environmental services.
Their success is down to adapting services to meet the changing needs of those most in need - the long-term unemployed, those with a poor academic record, or from a troubled lifestyle - that prevents them from securing employment, training, or to socially engage. Key Fund has done a number of investments over the years, including a £400k grant/loan in 2015 to assist BCB to buy properties for live building projects for trainees, and create 10 new jobs.
BCB also supports an ever-increasing number of charities, community groups and projects, with a focus on building stronger social foundations.
The charity also acts as a social landlord to organisations that support the community, as well as providing accommodation for homeless people who are recovering from health issues.
Their community café, The Dining Room, delivers meals on wheels and luncheon clubs, offering good food and company to those at risk of isolation, such as the elderly.
Impact
Over the years, hundreds of young people have been trained, gained qualifications and found employment; 93% achieved a full NVQ level 2. The apprentice course has a completion rate of over 94%, with 84% moving into fulltime employment. Figures that are well above both local and national averages.
Testimonial:
“We are now a diverse organisation always in tune with what’s happening around us - even more so with the economic uncertainties we continue to face. We have developed new services to support people that are most at need. The Key Fund has been a strong influence in where we are today. Alongside the Coalfields Regeneration Trust, Key Fund have been there in hard times.” - Steve Palmer, Operations Manager, BCB.
http://bcbtraining.co.uk/