Social Investment Business (SIB) has today announced the Resilience and Recovery Loan Fund (RRLF) has surpassed £20m in total funding approved.
RRLF is a £25m fund for social enterprises and charities that are improving people’s lives across the UK who are experiencing disruption to their normal business model as a result of COVID-19. It was established in April 2020 to make an existing government scheme (the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) more easily accessible to charities and social enterprises. To date, RRLF has approved funding of over £20m to 57 charities and social enterprises, with around £9m in funding left. Of the current total, over £18.4m worth of loans and over £2.4m worth of grants have been approved. The Fund closes to new applications on Wednesday 31 March at 11.59pm.
RRLF is being run by Social Investment Business (SIB) with an initial £25m investment and support from Big Society Capital. £4m in grants from Access – The Foundation for Social Investment – has also been made available alongside loans for organisations in England since August 2020. SIB is the lender and is working with experienced social investor partners on delivery of the fund: Big Issue Invest, CAF Venturesome, Charity Bank, Resonance, Social Investment Scotland, Social and Sustainable Capital and Wales Council for Voluntary Action.
RRLF is the only CBILS-backed fund that was created especially for charities and social enterprises and is dedicated to providing them with the support they need. Organisations with funding approved have included Autism Plus, Big Issue and the Royal Society for Blind Children.
Rob Benfield, Director of Investment at SIB, said:
We are delighted to have reached the milestone of £20m in total funding approved for RRLF and we’ve been pleased to support a wide range of charities and social enterprises with investment. We simply could not have achieved this without the support from our investors, and hard work from our delivery and introducer network partners. We still have around £9m in funding left, but this will be allocated on a first come, first served basis, so if you think the Fund could suit the needs of your organisation, we encourage you to get in touch with the team and apply well before the application deadline of 31 March.”
How to apply
RRLF offers eligible organisations loans under CBILS terms of £100K-£1.5m, with a 1-5-year term and offers grants alongside loans for organisations in England. The Fund closes to new applications on Wednesday 31 March at 11.59pm. You can find out more and apply for RRLF here.
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