£87.5 million unlocked for community enterprises and mission-driven businesses

• New strategy confirms £87.5 million to support community organisations struggling to access mainstream finance and grow social investment in underserved places and communities.
• This includes at least £12.5 million earmarked to support youth-focused organisations and £12 million to scale-up funding for a Black and Ethnically Minoritised-led social investment fund, Pathway Fund. 

Today (2 June) the Government has published its Dormant Assets strategy, confirming that £87.5 million has been allocated to grow social investment in underserved places and communities. 

The new commitment of Dormant Asset funding will deliver against objectives set out in the Community Enterprise Growth Plan – a plan developed by a broad coalition of partners in the social investment and social enterprise sectors, with backing from business organisations, civil society and philanthropy.

The Community Enterprise Growth Plan seeks to build on progress made over the decade to build the financial resilience of charities and social enterprises. Dormant assets have been critical in growing the UK’s social investment sector from £830m in 2011 to more than £10bn in 2023. 

It seeks to maximise investment in community enterprises and mission-driven businesses, particularly in the places and communities most affected by long-term economic decline. The new allocation will mean that thousands of trading charities, social enterprises, co-operatives, and other community enterprises will benefit from the scheme. 

Alongside dormant assets, the plan seeks to leverage private investment and philanthropic finance to deliver significant change at pace, doubling the amount available to communities. 

• A three-pronged approach will deliver tailored enterprise support, increase the availability of affordable and flexible finance, and build a robust and equitable social investment market.
• Investment will be focused on those most at risk from long-term economic decline with at least 50% of investment targeted in the most deprived 30% of neighbourhoods and at least 25% in the most deprived 10% of neighbourhoods.
• £12 million will be used to catalyse social investment opportunities for Black and Ethnically Minoritised communities via Pathway Fund.
• At least £12.5 million of the £87.5 million social investment allocation will enable organisations that support improved youth outcomes to build resilience and expand their impact.

Access – the Foundation for Social Investment will work closely with partners to deliver against the Dormant Assets strategy and will launch a brief consultation to support the implementation of the Community Enterprise Growth Plan. This consultation will launch later this week and is expected to run for 6 weeks. It will invite input from the social investment market and the wider VCSE sector on how best to deliver against the Plan’s established priorities.

Seb Elsworth, Chief Executive of Access – The Foundation for Social Investment, said: 

“Supporting mission-driven businesses is essential to unlocking sustainable growth that delivers real impact in our communities. With £87.5 million from Dormant Assets, we’re targeting investment where it’s needed most — reaching further and deeper into communities affected by long-term economic challenges and in groups that have traditionally faced barriers to funding, including Black and ethnically minoritised-led organisations.

“Social investment has a vital role to play in supporting youth organisations to sustain and grow their impact. Through the Community Enterprise Growth Plan, and with funding from the Dormant Assets scheme, we are backing organisations that are rooted in their communities and best placed to meet the needs of young people. By investing in their work, we are helping to build more resilient organisations that deliver early childhood support, family services, community-based food programmes, preventative healthcare, mental health services, affordable housing, and job training — ultimately leading to better outcomes for children and young people.”

Asher Craig, Chief Executive of Pathway Fund said:

"This is a pivotal moment for Black and Ethnically Minoritised communities. The £12 million commitment to Pathway Fund is more than a financial investment – it is a powerful endorsement of the talent, innovation, and resilience that exists within the communities that have been historically excluded from mainstream finance.

“For too long, structural barriers have prevented Black and Ethnically Minoritised-led organisations from accessing the capital they need to grow, scale, and thrive. This was identified by the Adebowale Commission on Social Investment. The Dormant Assets strategy begins to right those imbalances, by helping us to build a social investment market that is more equitable, inclusive, and fit for purpose.

“At Pathway Fund, we are ready to scale our impact. We will be working, following this announcement, to unlock opportunities, grow the capacity of underfunded, mission-driven, enterprises, harness the potential of our younger generations, and shift power to the leaders rooted in the communities they serve. This is about long-term, systemic, change and we are proud to play a central role in making it happen.”

Stephen Muers, Chief Executive of Better Society Capital, said:

"Supporting mission-driven organisations is essential to unlocking sustainable growth that delivers real impact in our communities, and this is exactly the kind of targeted investment that can reach the communities who need it most. The portion earmarked towards youth outcomes will change the lives of children and their families while delivering long-term value for government.

“We have been strong supporters of the Community Enterprise Growth Plan and have advocated for this money to flow to Access and Pathway - we know that mission-driven organisations are best placed to create jobs, unlock investment and tackle entrenched inequalities. By backing organisations rooted in their communities, we're building more resilient enterprises that can deliver lasting change to help tackle their most pressing challenges."

Notes to Editors 

Dormant assets are financial assets left untouched for long periods. Led by the financial services industry and backed by the government, the Dormant Assets Scheme aims to reunite people with these lost funds. Where this is not possible, money is transferred to the Dormant Assets Scheme to be distributed to important social and environmental initiatives. More here. 

Access – The Foundation for Social Investment is a wholesaler of grant subsidy into social investment funds and other initiatives. We do not make funding available to charities and social enterprises directly. If you are a charity or social enterprise looking for support or to find out more about social investment please visit Good Finance.

What is the Community Enterprise Growth Plan?

The Community Enterprise Growth Plan focuses on the untapped potential for growing enterprises with a social purpose in the places and communities most affected by long term economic decline. 

The Plan would use new Dormant Assets funding to reach further and deeper into the communities, particularly smaller organisations based in more deprived areas or working with underserved communities, which most need investment. 

The core principle underpinning the Community Enterprise Growth Plan is supporting equitable access to finance – enabling community-based businesses, social enterprises, co-operatives and trading charities in all areas of the country to take entrepreneurial approaches to tackling social problems and empowering communities to make change happen. 

Priorities include: 

• continuing to build the financial resilience of charities and social enterprises through enterprise development;
• increasing the availability of affordable, patient and flexible finance that charities, co-operatives and social enterprises need to thrive through blended finance;
• ensuring social investment is equitable, efficient, and tailored to the needs of charities and social enterprises through investment in targeted market development projects and infrastructure.

Crucially the Plan will only use precious Dormant Assets where this unique funding source is needed, and at least double the funds available to the sector by leveraging commercial investment into communities where those investors are otherwise reluctant to work.

The Community Enterprise Growth Plan has been developed with partners across business, philanthropic and voluntary and social enterprise sectors and will guide the distribution of the Dormant Assets Funds.  More here.