Supporting UnLtd social entrepreneurs through COVID-19
UnLtd is committed to stepping up our support for social entrepreneurs during this time. On this page we will be sharing and updating all our resources and responses to the pandemic.
Our support offer
Due to COVID-19 we are taking a new approach to award-making for the next few months. We will be devoting £2m of financial and non-financial support to our social entrepreneurs over the next six months.
Award Managers are working to identify current and past award winners whose businesses are put at risk, and for whom our support will make a real difference in this critical period. These entrepreneurs will be invited to apply for funding directly. This should help them to survive the emergency, as well as begin working towards a strong recovery.
We have therefore chosen to close our portal for new applications for now, so we can focus our attention on those currently delivering impact. For more details, please read the blog written by Mark Norbury our CEO.
Social Enterprise Support Fund
UnLtd, with four other partners, have secured £18.7 million in funding through The National Lottery Community Fund (TNLCF). The Social Enterprise Support Fund provides grants of £10k - £300k to help social enterprises meet the demands and pressures of COVID-19. This funding will be available to social enterprises in England reliant on trading to offer impact, and supporting people most affected by the health, economic or social impacts of COVID-19.
We are committing 50% of our grants to Black, Asian, minority ethnic and/or disabled social entrepreneurs. We also have a particular focus on supporting social ventures led by those with lived experience of the issue they are working to solve.
A dedicated website has further information on eligibility, and application questions. The first wave of applications is open from Monday 13th at 1pm.
Accessing Government support
We have prepared an information document, which we are updating weekly, to provide you with information that local councils and national government have prepared for small businesses dealing with effects of COVID-19. This includes all the relevant government services, grants and loans as soon as we hear about them.
Advocating for social entrepreneurs
We are collaborating with sector partners on a number of campaigns to ensure that social entrepreneurs receive the support they need right now, such as calling for an Emergency Liquidity Fund for social enterprises and charities. We were delighted to see the impact of this collaboration on 9th April when Big Society Capital’s announced a £100m programme of loans and investments for social ventures.
UnLtd and 10 other organisations in our sector also wrote to the Chancellor proposing a four-point plan to sustain social ventures through COVID-19. You can sign the letter and support this call for action from the government.
