A hot topic right now in social finance centres on the development of a social investment wholesale bank. Is this the holy grail for the sector’s future?
In the last few weeks Office of the Third Sector’s social enterprise team visited the Eastside offices in Hackney to learn more about our work and gauge our views on how you might structure this bank. This tied in with a public consultation on the topic.
The OTS visit triggered conversation among the team and we had soon figured out that we wanted to answer a different question (we’re a bit like that!). For us it was less about structure and more about need. If government is going to invest £250+ millions from unclaimed assets into social enterprise where can it have the greatest impact? Is it into a wholesale bank, or is it elsewhere?
Bear in mind there are already funders with capital who are investing directly in social businesses (e.g. The Social Investment Business, Big Issue Invest, Charity Bank and others) as well as traditional grant bodies (e.g. Capacitybuilders, Esmee Fairburn). In fact the social capital marketplace is one of the few places where credit is still quite readily available.
At Eastside, our work is focused on the demand-side, on ensuring that there are enough social enterprises that are sufficiently robust and ready for growth.
We agree, of course, that capital being available is a good thing but capital alone is not the answer. Scaling the social enterprise sector is not just about the supply-side. We believe that you need a balance of public investment into both sides – the supply and demand.
To this end, we advocate to see greater levels of investment into infrastructure and institutions to fund the training, education, support services that social enterprises need to grow.
And the neat thing here is that the supply side will benefit too. Social investment as an industry will benefit and become more sustainable because there will be more opportunities for social funders to make good deals, to grow social enterprise and therefore to see their capital get recycled.
About Eastside:
Wednesday, 21 October 2009
Friday, 2 October 2009
Social Enterprise: Regeneration-Rise
When Mo Smith, Chair of Trustees for Regenerate-Rise stood up at the Wandsworth Voluntary Sector: Surviving Recession event this week, she said:
“The best thing about our organisation is the number of clients we have who are over 90.”
RISE stands for Reaching the Isolated Elderly, and they aim to encourage and help older people to live the rest of their lives enjoying themselves with the company of other people by providing a programme of activities and outings, experiencing new adventures, visiting new places and achieving unfulfilled dreams.
Mo’s statement shows a clear example of an organisation simply meeting a need with attention, passion and determination. It is a unique quality of those who aren’t sure where the next tranche of money will come from, but who know that what they have to do is more important than waiting for the money in order to start.
Regenerate Rise have struggled through the recession: they have had to sell one of their minibuses and have seen their council funding cut. But as Mo sees it and as she said, they are committed to seeing communities and individuals transformed by the service they provide.
In talking to Mo since the event and learning more about these services there is undoubtedly a role for them to be funded in delivering them, as well as sharing their best practice understanding, events and outreach activities in a more entrepreneurial way, (particularly in the face of a growing ageing population).
And with more large enterprise funds such as The Social Investment Business, Thames Community Foundation and Big Lottery funding having the capacity and aspiration to invest in the community, there is a clearly a connection to be made.
The key point is the need to connect organisations like Regenerate Rise with the available funding, but also to help them understand what is required to access it and use it effectively. It is a connection that could allow good organisations, organisations like regenerate-rise, to make it through the recession and grow.
“The best thing about our organisation is the number of clients we have who are over 90.”
RISE stands for Reaching the Isolated Elderly, and they aim to encourage and help older people to live the rest of their lives enjoying themselves with the company of other people by providing a programme of activities and outings, experiencing new adventures, visiting new places and achieving unfulfilled dreams.
Mo’s statement shows a clear example of an organisation simply meeting a need with attention, passion and determination. It is a unique quality of those who aren’t sure where the next tranche of money will come from, but who know that what they have to do is more important than waiting for the money in order to start.
Regenerate Rise have struggled through the recession: they have had to sell one of their minibuses and have seen their council funding cut. But as Mo sees it and as she said, they are committed to seeing communities and individuals transformed by the service they provide.
In talking to Mo since the event and learning more about these services there is undoubtedly a role for them to be funded in delivering them, as well as sharing their best practice understanding, events and outreach activities in a more entrepreneurial way, (particularly in the face of a growing ageing population).
And with more large enterprise funds such as The Social Investment Business, Thames Community Foundation and Big Lottery funding having the capacity and aspiration to invest in the community, there is a clearly a connection to be made.
The key point is the need to connect organisations like Regenerate Rise with the available funding, but also to help them understand what is required to access it and use it effectively. It is a connection that could allow good organisations, organisations like regenerate-rise, to make it through the recession and grow.
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