Big in £6m investment to develop social investment market

Big Lottery Fund (BIG) has announced an investment of £6m that will develop the social investment market and further explore its potential to help tackle issues facing communities and individuals most in need.

The £6m Next Steps: Supporting Social Investment in England initiative will see BIG awarding between £40,000 and £1m to social investment proposals that are already in development but are in need of some extra funding to realise their plans.

The proposals may need pilot funding to demonstrate to investors that they can deliver returns, or they may be closer to fruition and need funding to put them into practice.

The funding is available to organisations acting in the role of commissioner or intermediary as well as frontline organisations who will deliver the interventions to tackle social need.

The money could facilitate a wide range of activities to develop social investment proposals, from creating systems to collect data, covering the legal and technical costs of finalising social investment proposals, or funding the delivery of interventions to show how in practice they can produce cashable savings for other services.

BIG is open for expressions of interests until Wednesday 14 December.

Further guidance and application materials are available here

Chair of BIG’s England Committee Nat Sloane said: “Now is an exciting time for social investment with the BIG-funded Peterborough Prison Social Impact Bond underway, and the Big Society Investment Fund (BSIF) beginning to make key investments in this area ahead of the launch of Big Society Capital next year.

“Clearly the current difficult financial climate presents a great many challenges for the Voluntary and Community Sector, with limited funding available and demand for services increasing.

"Social investment may hold a more financially sustainable answer to addressing some of the problems faced by society. It could also support projects that might otherwise look for Lottery funding, potentially freeing up cash for other good causes.

“This funding package we are announcing today has been developed based on our experience working with BSIF and liaison with social investment experts. It will help us to build some significant learning about social investment and how in practice it could be used for the benefit of communities and those most in need.”