Launch of the Kent Big Society Fund to help social enterprises grow

A new fund providing £3 million of loans for new and existing social enterprises in Kent will be launched by Kent County Council in partnership with the Kent Community Foundation.

Called the Kent Big Society Fund, the money will provide loans to help support social enterprises that have the desire and appetite to grow their enterprise in the county and create further employment at a time when access to finance from high street banks and grant funding from the public sector is increasingly difficult.

The fund will be established through the Kent Community Foundation (KCF), an experienced Kent-based charity with many years of experience in administering and managing funds for the benefit of the Kent community.

The £3 million will be donated over three years, with the first£1 million given to KCF in January 2012 to establish the fund. The money will then be used to provide loans to social enterprises with repayments being recycled to provide new loans. KCC will top up the fund by £1 million each year until 2014.

As KCF is a charity, any further donations into the Kent Big Society Fund from private individuals and corporate bodies will attract tax and gift aid relief. KCC and KCF hope to attract money from philanthropic and other sources to the fund.

The fund will be open for applications in January and interested social enterprises, or those thinking of forming a social enterprise and who might be eligible for loan funding, will be able to apply to the KCF from mid-January. The first decisions on applications will be made by a KCF Investment Panel at the end of March.

Mike Hill, KCC Cabinet Member for Customer and Communities, said:

“The Kent Big Society Fund will help social enterprises to make a real difference for local people and the local economy. It will help social enterprises to grow, create further employment opportunities for Kent residents and, at the same time, deliver the wider social value that is at the very heart of social enterprise.”

“I know £3 million is a lot of money, but we believe that there is huge potential in the social enterprise sector in Kent, which can be unlocked through the fund. It really is a show of faith from KCC in the great potential of the social enterprise sector in Kent. We hope those with a similar belief will help us support social enterprises by also donating to the fund.”

Carol Lynch, Chief Executive Officer of Kent Community Foundation, said:

“Kent Community Foundation is thrilled to be working with Kent County Council to establish the Kent Big Society Fund. This is a terrific opportunity to encourage and support local social enterprises to benefit the community and enhance the economic, social and environmental vibrancy of Kent. We are particularly excited by the opportunity loan financing offers to ‘recycle’funding that can benefit many more projects in the future, as loans are repaid.”

“We hope the Kent Big Society Fund might also encourage existing charities and community projects to consider whether social enterprise is a way of developing their aims in a financially sustainable way, which is so important in a climate of constrained grant funding. While social enterprise is not a panacea, there is a growing understanding of how this kind of enterprising approach can tackle long-standing social problems from the grassroots up, and improve the lives of the people of Kent.”

“Kent County Council is leading the way in terms of supporting and stimulating social enterprise models as a sustainable way of improving the lives of Kent residents. As the fund develops, we will be encouraging local businesses and philanthropists to invest in the Kent Big Society Fund, financially and by offering their business knowledge and expertise to mentor budding social entrepreneurs.”

Next year, Kent County Council will announce the Kent Jobs for Kent Young People scheme. £2 million of the Big Society Fund will be put towards developing this new initiative that will support the rising number of young unemployed – details of which will be launched in the spring with the aim of substantially reducing the numbers of unemployed under the age of 25.

Reproduced courtesy of Kent County Council