A new ‘Inclusive Economy Fund’ will provide financial support, including equity investment and loans, to social economy organisations in Plymouth.
Plymouth City Council has made the decision to create the new fund by merging two existing funding sources: the Social Enterprise Investment Fund (created in 2015) and the Co-ops and Mutual Fund (created in 2019) into one.
With its new structure, the fund will be more flexible and able to support economic recovery when it’s required.
The Inclusive Economy Fund keeps the overall objectives of the two previous funds and will finance people and projects that often struggle to secure funding from high street banks, enabling new local social enterprise that supplies services for local needs. It will support Plymouth projects that:
- Create jobs, especially getting people back into work after Covid (e.g. the creation of new social enterprise activity)
- Bring empty or underused buildings back into use
- Utilise match funding from other sources, bringing new investment into the city
Council Leader Nick Kelly said: “By combining these two existing funds into one, we have a more flexible way of supporting the voluntary community and social enterprise sectors as they recover from the effects of the pandemic. It will help to ensure we are working together to build back better.”