Income at Access – The Foundation for Social Investment increased by more than £6m last year, latest accounts show.
The charity, which provides finance for charities and social enterprises using income from the Dormant Assets Scheme, recorded income of £18.3m in 2024, up from £11.8m in the previous 12 months.
Its income from grants rose to £16.7m in 2023/24, up from £10.5m in the previous year, almost all of which came from dormant asset funding, the accounts say.
“This reflects the scale-up in delivery of our dormant asset-funded blended finance programmes, especially the cost-of-living programme,” the accounts say.
Costs at Access also increased, from £19.8m in 2022/23 to £24.6m in 2023/24.
“The result reflects the scale-up in activity from dormant assets and spend-down of our endowment in accordance with our mission and the utilisation of restricted grants received,” the accounts say.
The hike in costs is also due to an increase in the charity’s spending on blended finance.
Access manages and promotes blended finance models, which bridge the gap between charities, social enterprises and social investors, the accounts say.
Blended finance models that Access manages include The Growth Fund, which provides loans of up to £150,000 that charities and social enterprises need at early stages of growth or when they are diversifying their business models.
It also manages the Local Access programme, which uses dormant assets and funds from the social investment wholesaler Better Society Capital to grow local social economies.
The charity’s spending on blended finance increased to £20.9m in 2023/24, up from £12.9m in the previous year.