Black and minority-led charities are being offered the chance to apply to a £4m grant and loan fund that aims to help organisations strengthen the communities they serve.
The Flexible Finance Fund is run through a partnership between the social investment body Social Investment Business and the minority-led social enterprises Create Equity and The Ubele Initiative, with Access – The Foundation for Social Investment providing grant funding.
The £4m blended finance programme offers loans and grants to black and racially minoritised-led charities and social enterprises in England.
The fund combines flexible grant and loan finance, with loans ranging from £50,000 to £1.5m exclusive of grants, while grants worth between 50 and 100 per cent of the loan value capped at £200,000 are available, the SIB said.
The fund has fixed interest rate of 7.9 per cent per annum and a loan repayment term of one to six years, inclusive of any capital repayment holiday.
There is an optional capital repayment holiday of up to 12 months at the start of the loan.
Rob Benfield, director of investments at the Social Investment Business, said: “Flexible finance is designed to address some of the barriers that have historically made investment harder to access, combining grant and loan funding in a way that better meets organisations’ needs.
“This new round gives us the opportunity to build on what we’ve learned and support more organisations to develop stronger, more sustainable organisations and expand what they can deliver for the communities they serve.”
Debra Healy, chief executive of Create Equity, said empowering black- and brown-led organisations had “never been so important”.
Healy said: “The blended finance as well as the wrap-around support delivered through flexible finance provides a great opportunity for organisations to grow and thrive.
“We look forward to working with and supporting many more black [and] racially minoritised-led organisations once again.”