Today Big Issue Invest, the social investment arm of The Big Issue Group, is launching a new investment programme called Impact Loans England. This programme is designed to help social enterprises and charities who might have previously struggled to access small to medium-sized loans. This is their newest lending programme which will be delivered over the next three years.
What is Impact Loans England?
Impact Loans England is a new £5 million lending scheme aimed at enabling social enterprises and charities to access loan funding of between £20,000 and £150,000. The programme is funded by Access – The Foundation for Social Investment, with finance provided by Big Lottery Fund and Big Society Capital. See the brochure and press release for more information about the programme.
Who can apply for a loan?
They are looking to support social enterprises and charities who want to raise social investment of between £20,000 and £150,000. The organisations looking for this kind of investment are typically early stage and smaller social enterprises. The programme will tend not to support start-ups and is instead looking for organisations with a trading history of at least one year. The Impact Loans England programme (aptly named) is only available in England so unfortunately Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are not included. Please note that Big Issue Invest do invest in organisations across the UK through many of our other funds and programmes.
If are a social enterprise or charity that might benefit from funding, please email impactloansengland@bigissueinvest.com with an expression of interest.