Deadline: 21-Dec-21
Applications for Social Enterprise Support Fund 2021/2022 are now open to provide essential financial support to help social enterprises in England to rebuild and grow their income from trading, following the impact of COVID-19.
The Social Enterprise Support Fund (SESF) was launched in 2020 when the focus was on emergency funding to help social enterprises get through the COVID-19 crisis and continue to support their communities.
The fund is focused on social enterprises supporting people facing increased social and economic challenges as a result of the pandemic. They will support them in evolving and growing sustainable community services, in the face of ongoing disruption.
Priority Areas
- Reach the most marginalised communities and promote inclusion: They will prioritise social enterprises which are:
- working with the most marginalised communities in England
- led by and/or working with disabled people and/or from Black, Asian and minority ethnic and/or LGBTQIA+ communities
- led by people with direct lived experience of the issues they are seeking to support
- Support social enterprises to recover: They will prioritise social enterprises that:
- are normally substantially reliant on income from trading
- have a clear plan for growing or returning to substantial income from trading
- will benefit from both the grant and the business support on offer
- Support communities to recover: They will prioritise social enterprises that can demonstrate that they are working with communities that are disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and are supporting those communities to recover.
Funding Information
- They will jointly deliver £16.3m in grants of between £10,000 and £100,000 to help social enterprises achieve these aims.
- There will be two rounds of funding, and grants will be offered for a period of 12 months.
What they can Fund?
They can fund: Project costs such as:
- staff salaries
- project activities
- running costs
- small-scale refurbishment or temporary shelters that do not require planning permission
- items of equipment to help you become COVID-secure and/or adapt your services
- organisational development
- training and support for staff and volunteers
- contributions to fixed costs
- investments in systems
- external business support or consultancy up to a maximum of £5,000
Eligibility Criteria
Please check that you can answer yes to the following criteria:
- In England: The fund is only available to you if the majority of the people and/or organisations you support through your social enterprise live and/or are based in England.
- At least one year old: Your social enterprise must have been incorporated for at least 12 months. This means it must have been registered with Companies House, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) or the Charity Commission at least one year ago.
- An incorporated social purpose organisation with an asset lock: Your social enterprise must be incorporated. It may be a charitable company, a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO), a Community Interest Company (CIC) or a Community Benefit Society (CBS/Registered Society).
For more information, visit https://socialenterprisesupportfund.org.uk/apply