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Enterprise Growth for Communities
Strengthening communities through building resilience in charities and social enterprises
Blended finance
Making social investment more inclusive and affordable by combining subsidy with other sources of capital
What we mean
Blended finance combines different types of funding—usually grants and repayable finance—to make social investment more accessible and effective.
This approach enables charities and social enterprises to undertake projects that might be too risky or unprofitable for traditional investors.
For instance, a loan fund might include grant subsidies to allow the fund manager to offer smaller loans and absorb more risk, or to provide grants alongside unsecured loans.
By structuring finance in this way, organisations can access the capital they need to create social impact, while making investment opportunities more viable for social investors.
Our role
Access is a provider of grant subsidy into social investment funds. Our grant, usually sourced from the Dormant Assets Scheme, makes it possible to structure funds differently, attracting additional investment that might not otherwise be available otherwise.
This helps to create funds that are viable in their own right and deliver the financial products which charities and social enterprises need and can afford.
We only blend our grants into social investment funds—we do not provide funding directly to charities and social enterprises, even if they plan to combine it with other sources of capital.
Our blended finance programmes
Some of our programmes combine different types of funding. They’re shown below if they focus fully on blended finance - or include blended finance elements.
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Flexible Finance for the Recovery
Increasing access to patient and flexible social investment for charities and social enterprises post-Covid
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Energy Efficiency Social Investment Programme (EESIP)
Enhancing the energy resilience of charities and social enterprises
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Local Access
Supporting the development of stronger, more resilient and sustainable social economies in disadvantaged places
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Cost of living Social Investment Support Fund
Helping charities and social enterprises to support the communities most affected by the cost of living crisis
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The Growth Fund
Now closed, the Growth Fund offered up to £150k of repayable finance by combining grants with loans.
Blended Finance Collective
Based in the UK, the Blended Finance Collective is a community to learn, connect and collaborate on blended finance.
The Collective brings together practitioners from every corner of the globe, across sectors and geographies.
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Independent Review
In 2022, an independent review, commissioned by DCMS and conducted by NPC highlighted how blended finance supports trading charities and social enterprises to increase their impact, build their resilience and reach more people, particularly in underserved communities.
The report, based on interviews and data analysis with over 40 organisations, also concluded that there is a well-evidenced and ongoing need for grant subsidy from government into blended finance.
Visit Good Finance
If you are a charity or social enterprise looking for funding, visit Good Finance.
You will find tools to help you decide if social investment is right for your organisation and a comprehensive overview of the funds available to you.
