Project: Shifting Gears
Grant: £44,240 

Voice4Change England (V4CE) is a registered charity set up in 2007 to support and advocate on behalf of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) voluntary and community sector organisations and social enterprises (VCSEs). The aim is to build a stronger and inclusive civil society to improve the life outcomes for BME and other populations subject to disadvantage and discrimination. V4CE does this in a number of ways, including enhancing public policy; supporting BME-led self-organised action and engagement; and contributing to a constructive discourse about race inequality and racism.

The project will engage BME VCSEs to improve take up social investment through the right service product design for varied communities. V4CE has identified the need to raise awareness of the possibilities that social investment could offer BME sector organisations which are in a position to trade and take on repayable finance. V4CE believes there is also a need to create and ensure a steady pipeline of VCSEs capable of moving to investment, through setting up a pre-investment development programme to become investment ready.

The project will have a specific focus on community asset transfers (CATs) to BME communities and will culminate in a national event which will to bring together a collection of some of the most advanced BME CAT projects to compare experiences, challenges and solutions.