The Cost of Living Fund from Social Investment Business recently concluded with all the funding distributed. The £4million blended fund was created in Autumn 2023 in response to an Institute of Government report showing that the poorer households in the UK are the worst affected by the cost-of-living crisis because they spend a higher share of their income on energy and food, the prices of which are increasing fastest. Multiple studies find that not being able to afford these essentials has wide-ranging negative impacts on mental and physical health and well-being.
A survey conducted by Social Investment Business on behalf of the Social Investment Forum found that charities and social enterprises are facing a significant increase in demand for services such as mental health support, financial support, free meal provision and the creation of ‘warm banks’ for people to come to stay warm in the winter.
Social Investment Business designed the Cost-of-Living Fund (COLF) supported by Access – The Foundation for Social Investment, to provide grant funding alongside Recovery Loan Fund (RLF) loans to eligible charities and social enterprises.
The blend of Cost-of-Living grant ranged from £10k to £250k in size, and 20% to 50% of the value of the loan. The grant was exclusively for organisations supporting people affected by the cost-of-living crisis, and enable them to:
- Continue existing products or services
- Increase the number of people supported
- Launch new products or services
- Improve the quality or efficiency of products and services.
The Recovery Loan Fund provides loans of £100k and £1.5million. The minimum loan size is reduced to £50k for BAME-led organisation or for organisations based in Wales and Scotland.
The fund had a target of distributing 80% of the grants to the most deprived areas of England, however when the fund closed the actual figure was 94% of funding going to IMD 1-3.
17 organisations were beneficiaries of the funding, with the average amount of grant/loan disbursed £229k.
Some of the organisations who received funding include Fareshare Midlands and Hull Women’s Network. Fareshare Midlands is a crucial part of the Fareshare UK network, to source and redistribute good quality, in date surplus food which would have otherwise gone to waste. Hull Women’s Network is an organisation that supports women and children in the community in Hull, most of whom have fled domestic abuse. You can read how Fareshare Midlands and Hull Women’s Network utilised the funding in their Case Studies which can be found in the Impact section of the website.
Although the Cost of Living Fund is now closed to new applications, the Recovery Loan Fund remains open and offers loans of £100k-£1.5million to charities and social enterprises who are improving people’s lives or the communities they live in. To find out more about the Recovery Loan Fund click here.
