28 November 2014
A pioneering scheme providing support to
social enterprises has won a prestigious national investment
award.
Social Enterprise Assist (SE-Assist)
led by the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) and Legal & General,
was named Best Investment Project at the Investment Week
Sustainable Investment Awards.
Under the scheme, established businesses
support social enterprises in their local communities with
investment and support.
The programme provides investment to a wide
range of start-up businesses who may currently be struggling to
raise capital or lack the expertise or experience to get off the
ground.
SE-Assist opened for applications from social
enterprises this March in Croydon after gaining the support of
Croydon Council and the Coast To Capital Local Economic
Partnership, as well as in Brighton and Hove, where the programme
was piloted last year. The aim is to roll the scheme out to more
cities and regions across the UK so more social enterprises may
benefit.
The social entrepreneurs are offered a unique
package comprising of an interest free loan of between £10,000 and
£30,000, mentoring and access to an investors network to receive
expert consultancy.
In last year’s pilot, SE-Assist helped to
support three social enterprises in Sussex, one of which was the
ethical supermarket HiSBe which opened its doors in Brighton last
month after receiving a loan and expert consultancy. This year,
SE-Assist supported a further eight social enterprises across
Sussex and Croydon.
Klara Kozlov, Head of Corporate Clients at the
Charities Aid Foundation, said: “We are absolutely thrilled that SE
Assist developed by CAF and our Venturesome social investment arm
in partnership with Legal & General, has been recognised with
this prestigious national award.
“This scheme brings together the funding and
business expertise which social entrepreneurs need to establish
innovative projects that can help to build local economies and
infrastructure.
“Thanks to the support of our partners
Legal & General, Coast to Capital LEP and Nesta, we have been
able to support some fantastic projects and show how social
investment can really deliver for local communities.”
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