Our governance

Access – The Foundation for Social Investment is a charitable company limited by guarantee, registered in England with Companies House (09153909) and the Charity Commission (1159699). 

As both a registered charity and a limited company, we combine the benefits of charitable status with a corporate structure that allows us to enter contracts, employ staff, and manage finances effectively.

Our board reflects our mission. Trustees bring experience from charities and social enterprises, social investment, business and finance.

As volunteers, they provide strategic leadership, make key decisions, and ensure we use our resources effectively.

Trustees serve a three-year term, with a maximum of three terms to be served.

The Oversight Trust oversees several organisations, including as Access’s sole corporate member. It ensures that Access and other organisations receiving funds from the Dormant Assets Scheme stay true to their missions and use their resources effectively.

The Oversight Trust established Access, working in collaboration with the social investment sector, including Big Society Capital (now Better Society Capital), the Cabinet Office (now DCMS) and The National Lottery Community Fund.

While Access operates independently, making its own decisions on programmes and funding, the Oversight Trust provides governance and accountability, ensuring that we remain aligned with our original purpose.

Access receives funding from the Dormant Assets Scheme to support charities and social enterprises through social investment. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is responsible for overseeing the Dormant Assets Scheme setting the overall policy and framework for how dormant assets are used.

Access is also funded in part by an endowment of £60 million, given by the Cabinet Office in 2015 and now continued by DCMS following the relocation of The Office for Civil Society in 2016. This endowment is used to fund programmes that help charities and social enterprises become investment-ready and engage with the social investment market.