We are looking for a broad range of views – from charities and social enterprises to infrastructure bodies and those in the social investment market itself – 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.   

Earlier this year, the government announced that social investment will continue to be one of the four areas on which dormant assets can be spent. This is hugely welcome news. Later this year, DCMS (Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) will publish indicative allocations of how much money will flow to each area. 

During last year’s consultation, Access was pleased to work with a wide range of partners to create the Community Enterprise Growth Plan (CEGP).

We think there is untapped potential, particularly in charities and social enterprises in underserved places and communities, and want to see a social investment market that serves a much broader range of places and communities. The plan centres on providing increased access to capital, dedicated funding to encourage the growth of trading activity, and tailored business support.

Read more about the Community Enterprise Growth Plan here.

We believe that social investment could play a much bigger role in supporting communities across the country to drive change and create jobs and growth. While social investment is undoubtedly a force for good – it’s not perfect and our overriding focus is how we can ensure support flows to a much broader range of places and communities.  

We are spending the next few months discussing the plan with a wide range of individuals and organisations with an interest in social investment and will be further developing the plan through this process.  We are committed to communicating openly about how things are developing throughout this process and expect to publish more details for further consultation later in the summer.  This blog is the start of that commitment.

If you are interested in feeding in your views at this stage, we are starting with four key questions: 

1. In your view, will the proposals put forward in the Community Enterprise Growth Plan help achieve our goals of making social investment more accessible and affordable, particularly for underserved communities?
2. Which elements of the plan would you prioritise? And are there any elements you think are missing?
3. How could dormant assets better support your organisation and the work you do?
4. Any other thoughts or reflections?

There are several ways to get involved in the conversation: 

• You can tell us your thoughts on the above.
• You can reach out for a conversation on how the ambitions in the Community Enterprise Growth Plan can best be realised.
• You can register your interest to attend a webinar later this year – details to follow.

We look forward to hearing from you. 

UPDATE – We are hosting a short informal webinar on Thursday 31 August at 11 am to discuss the latest on the Community Enterprise Growth Plan and provide an opportunity to feed in views. E-mail info@access-si.org.uk for the joining details.