Investing in an enterprising Scottish third sector
1st July 2008, 1:37 pm
A thirty million pound Scottish Investment Fund is being set up by the Scottish Government to help trading charities and social enterprises increase their turnover or become financially sustainable. It will provide a mixture of loan/repayable finance and grant funding to mature established social economy organisations who have been trading successfully for at least three years. Official news item at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2008/06/18150321, or see fund manager Social Investment Scotland’s information, including a pdf download (61KB) of the Investment Strategy.
As reported by Charity Finance (http://www.charityfinance.co.uk/home/content.php?id=1993), organisations at an earlier stage of development will be able to apply to the separate Third Sector Enterprise Fund, which will have £12 million over three years available in amounts of up to £100,000. Details are to follow in the next few months.
The Scottish Government has also published ‘Enterprising Third Sector Action Plan, 2008-11′ to “help to create the right conditions in which an enterprising Third Sector - including social enterprises - can thrive, enabling the Third Sector to play a full role in the development, design and delivery of policy and services in Scotland.” This is a large pdf, see http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/15300/Actionplan for introduction and link.