2015
Access is established to ‘disrupt’ the social investment market and reach underserved places and communities.
- Our Impact
- / Chapter 1
Our impact at a glance
Our story so far
How we’ve helped social investment reach organisations, places and communities that were previously excluded
Access in numbers
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£57 million
grant deployed
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£96 million
additional co-investment
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£153 million
total investment deployed to VCSEs
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122
partners
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11
programmes
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2700+
charities and social enterprises supported
Cumulative grant and investment over time
This graph shows the deployment of Access grant over time since our inception in 2015 and the total investment unlocked.
Reaching into communities
How our work, alongside our partners, leads to lasting impact and positive change
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65%
of Access grant goes to 40% most deprived areas
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44%
goes to VCSEs that have not been funded by other major funders or social investors
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£1.68
investment for every £1
Total Investment by IMD
We measure how much of our money reaches more deprived places and communities using the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD). IMD 1 represents the most deprived areas whilst IMD 10 represents the least deprived.
We measure how much of our money reaches more deprived places and communities using the Indices of Multiple Deprivation (IMD).
IMD ranks areas in England from 1 (most deprived) to 10 (least deprived). While it’s not the only way to measure deprivation, it gives us the most consistent data.
We know IMD has limitations, so we’re also exploring other ways to understand our reach This includes looking at other measures such as rural communities, and if we have a good geographic spread to our funding.
We will build this work into future versions of data dashboards and our impact report.
2016
Launch of Good Finance , a partnership between Access and Better Society Capital, to help charities and social enterprises navigate social investment.
2017
Access funds start reaching the frontline – with £20k going to Intraquest, a CIC in Oldham that supports children and families dealing with trauma.
“We’ve got the business model nailed and Key Fund has really helped us analyse what’s working and what’s not. It’s been a lifesaver really." More here and here.
2018
Access expands its focus to include enterprise support.
The Growth Fund now has 16 funds across 15 social investors, deploying £50 million to organisations with half the turnover and 1/8th of the assets of other social investment deals.
2019
Local Access, a place-based programme working across six places launches with a £10 million investment from Dormant Assets.
2020
Access launches its Emergency Lending programme to get money flowing rapidly during the Covid-19 pandemic. £5.5 million in grant unlocks £21 million of investment.
2021
A review commissioned by the Oversight Trust concludes that Access has had a “significant positive impact” on the infrastructure and investment needed to support small charities and social enterprises.
2022
An independent review, commissioned by DCMS and conducted by NPC, highlights how blended finance has enabled “organisations in some of the poorest areas to grow and increase their impact through reaching more people.”
2023
In response to rising energy costs and the cost-of-living crisis, Access launches two new programmes focussed on getting support to those most in need.
Backed by Dormant Assets, we launched an £11 million cost-of-living programme to scale solutions that deliver for the hardest hit communities and developed at pace a £20 million support package on energy resilience.
2024
By the end of 2024, Access grant has now enabled over £100 million of investment to flow to the VCSE sector.
£57 million of grant deployed. Unlocking £96 million of additional co-investment (this amount will increase as more funds are deployed). Total investments of £153 million flowing to charities and social enterprises in England.