News from Access – June 2023 – including updates on Dormant Assets and EDI

Updates from the Access team on all things social investment, blended finance and enterprise development.

June 29th, 2023 by Chloe Stables

This month at Access

Shaping the future – With more Dormant Asset funding due to flow to charities and social enterprises via social investment – we want to make sure this money is being used in the most effective way possible. We are looking for a broad range of views to feed into a cross-sector plan designed to ensure that all communities have access to the capital and enterprise support they need to thrive. Find out how to feed in your views here.

Equity, diversity and inclusion – CEO Seb Elsworth reflects on our progress in relation to equity, diversity and inclusion over the last year and our priorities for the year ahead. This includes how we have gone about collecting and publishing our team diversity data for the first time, and the work we have done to develop our equity, diversity and inclusion policy and action plan. Read Seb’s blog and our updated resources on EDI at Access.

Enterprise Grants – Authored by Social Spider CIC, a new report sheds light on the significant potential Enterprise Grants can have for funders and entrepreneurs alike. Grantmakers have been urged to increase their support for charities and social enterprises to boost their trading income. More here on the Funder’s Collaborative Hub.

Social Investment Stories

“I have had to overcome significant obstacles to achieve my place within the academic community, and I now use this alongside my extensive lived experience to work towards effective systems change within the Criminal Justice System.”

Founder of Doing What Really Matters, Dan Whyte

Doing What Really Matters (DWRM), a social enterprise focused on prisoner rehabilitation through university education, has secured £150,000 in funding via the Growth Impact Fund. Their goal is to enable 25% of the prison population, equal to 20,000 students, to access Further and Higher Education within the next decade.

Don’t miss this

  • Join Access and the Eiris Foundation for a free, informal workshop aimed at charity trustees and staff. The workshop will look at the practical considerations around shaping and implementing an Impact Investment approach. 19 July, 2-3:30pm, online. Find out more.

What we’re reading and listening to

  • Essential reading from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Social Investment Business on the impact of long-term, patient, locally-focused social investment. The analysis of the Futurebuilders England fund showed that the programme significantly reduced deprivation levels and boosted economic output and productivity in communities. Read the Observer article and the report in full.
  • Check out this video from Aviva. They are the first participant in the expanded version of the Dormant Assets Scheme, joining over 40 UK banks and building societies that already participate in it.

Did you know?