A new Fund is coming which will be a consortium of 5 partners (UnLtd, Big Issue Invest, Resonance, School for Social Entrepreneurs and The Key Fund) working across the social enterprise sector to support entrepreneurs to rebuild their businesses and recover their support to communities following the Covid-19 pandemic.
This fund will provide grants and non-financial support (technical assistance) to social enterprises and charities within England. The fund aims to support approximately 500 social enterprises with the key focus on ensuring equitable and inclusive access to and delivery of support.
We are looking for Development Partners who are Black, Asian, Minority ethnic and/ or disabled and or LGTBQ. to ensure our outreach is equitable, diverse and compliments our current staff diversity. These partners should also be confident in reaching and empowering communities who are Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic, and or Disabled, and or from the LGTBQTIA+ community. We also welcome partners who reach communities who are using their lived experience of a social issue to lead change
We need up to six Development Partners, working with us for 12 months, to help us find, fund and support the most impactful social entrepreneurs in your community, field or local area. The focus of this role will be addressing the demographic, socio-economic and geographic gaps and barriers faced by those from the most marginalised communities in 2020.
Each Development Partner will:
This will increase the diversity of the applications in each round, improve the quality of support to grantees from marginalised or underserved communities and build a stronger infrastructure for entrepreneurs from these communities for the future. It will mean we will fund the most inclusive, sustainable and impactful enterprises.
Each Development Partner will receive a £25k sustainability grant managed through UnLtd. Organisations that apply for Development Partner funding will also be eligible for grants from the fund through the main grant rounds and shared portal.
Your expression of interest should be emailed as an attachment (MS Word or PDF) to Amjid Hussain, Project Lead amjidhussain@unltd.org.uk with the subject line ‘EOI New Fund Development Partner’ by 12pm on the 19th August 2021. Contact Amjid if you would like an informal chat or more information prior to submitting your EOI.
Timescale
Closing date for expressions of interest | 19/8/21 |
Shortlisted sent invitations | 23/8/21 |
Phone Interviews week commencing | 23/8/21 |
Panel Interviews week commencing | 30/8/21 |
Commencement of partnership | 09/09/21 |
Round One portal opens | 23/9/21 |
Round Two Portal opens | 20/1/22 |
Requirements
We would welcome expressions of interest from individuals or social enterprises who can demonstrate their suitability in no more than 2,000 words by 12pm on 19/8/2021
Development Partners must be able to dedicate their own and/or staff time to undertake outreach and then provide support from early September.
Expressions of interest will be assessed using the following criteria, using a scale of 1 (excellent level of evidence) to 5 (little or no evidence):
