The Big Issues: Social ventures and charities

Big Issue Invest calls for applications from social ventures and charities across England from its £15M Impact Loans England programme; investment arm of the Big Issue Group aims to provide social businesses dealing with uncertainty inherent to the UK’s post- Covid economy with funding

Big Issue Invest (BII) has called for applications from social ventures and charities across England from its new £15M Impact Loans England programme.

The investment arm of the Big Issue Group’s new Impact Loans England programme (ILE) is a competitive blended loan/grant product which is designed to provide an inclusive, flexible and patient loan offering that can help social organisations and charities grow.

ILE will provide early-stage ventures with loan products that can help social businesses deal with seasonal fluctuations in income and the uncertainty inherent to the UK’s post covid economy.

BII is currently offering between £20,000 to £400,000 with up to 20% of this amount as a grant to investees, with terms of between 1 to 8 years. There is potential for up to 12 months of initial interest-only period and no early repayment charges.

ILE is offering organisations a competitive interest rate of ca. 7.5%-8.5%. Also available are Reach Fund grants of up to £15k support to finetune application plan, forecasts and more.

The programme offers the provision of a dedicated account manager, to assist with applications and to provide ongoing wraparound support.

The Fund intends to invest in a wide range of geographies across the England, with particular attention paid to areas of poverty that have a greater need for support and investment including those working in marginalised communities and those led by Black, Asian, minority ethnic and/or disabled people.

Danyal Sattar: “We are pleased to be offering social enterprises and charities this programme of support. There is an increasing need for loan products that can help social businesses make the most of growth opportunities but also deal with the uncertainty inherent to the UK’s post-pandemic economy.”

Organisations interested can visit www.bigissue.com/invest/impact-loans-england/ to learn more and register their interest. Potential applicants are welcome to also reach out with any queries enquiries@bigissueinvest.com.

About Big Issue Invest  

Big Issue Invest (BII) is the social investment arm of The Big Issue.  BII offers loans and investment from £20,000 to £4 million to social enterprises and charities across the UK. It currently manages or advises on over £470 million of impact funds. Since formation in 2005, it has provided over £80 million in impact loans to more than 550 social enterprises. In 2021 alone, BII invested over £35 million in 135 organisations.  

Web: www.bigissue.com/invest   Twitter: @bigissueinvest  Facebook: www.facebook.com/bigissueinvest