Black and Racially Minoritised-Led Groups in England Can Apply Now for Flexible Finance

The Flexible Finance Fund is a partnership between Social Investment Business, The Ubele Initiative and Create Equity. It will provide £4 million of funding and support to 15-25 Black and Racially Minoritised charities and social enterprises based in England who are improving people’s lives, or the environment they live in. The package of funding and support is meant to help them to grow or take on assets and become more resilient.

Flexible Finance works through providing a flexible grant and support alongside a loan from the Government’s Recovery Loan Fund alongside direct support from The Ubele Initiative or Create Equity through the funding application process.

Black and Racially Minoritised-led, legally constituted registered charities or social enterprises operating for at least two years with a minimum turnover of £200,000 in the last financial year may apply for a blended loan and grant:

• Loans are £50,000 to £1.5 million with a term of one to six years.
• Unrestricted grants of £50,000 to £200,000 (ranges from 50% to 100% of the loan amount capped at £200,000).

Funding can be used for anything that benefits the community the organisation operates in. It is an unrestricted fund, so the funding could be used to take on more staff, undertake building work or increase capacity through new projects for example.

The Black and Racially Minoritised grouping covers everyone outside the category ‘White British’ (i.e., White English / Welsh / Scottish / Northern Irish). Groups classified as Black and Racially Minoritised include people identifying as Asian / Asian British; Black / African / Caribbean / Black British; White Irish or Gypsy, Traveller or Irish Traveller; mixed or multiple ethnic groups; Arab or Latinx; or any other ‘non-White’ British category.

There are no deadlines. Applications can be made at any time.

Further details can be found here: Flexible Finance | Funding | Social Investment Business (sibgroup.org.uk)

And here: Funding | Social Investment Business (sibgroup.org.uk)