Project: Gateway to Social Investment Project

Grant: £60,000

BBRC will work in partnership with Voscur to help groups produce strong, sustainable proposals suitable for social investment. BBRC will support organisations with a viable business model to become investment ready and broker relationships with potential investors.

BBRC’s and Voscur’s overall project plan is divided into five phases. BBRC will lead on the fourth phase (investment readiness) and fifth phase (due diligence), providing additional support in the first three phases. BBRC will engage with organisations to build their knowledge of the market, finalise their business plans and prepare for broker investment options. Following this, some organisations will begin the due diligence process for social investment.

The overall aim is to give VCSEs a better understanding of the potential of using assets to generate an alternative income source, enabling them to become sustainable. Voscur and BBRC expect to deliver a replicable model of support and enterprise development for organisations managing community assets and address the cultural barriers to social investment within Boards by appropriately discussing risk. The projects will also demonstrate the added value of collaboration and peer support in developing investment readiness alongside the provision of specialist expertise and capacity, resulting in a number of VCSEs that have been through the investment journey and are primed for sharing their experience to support others.