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Income per head in inner London is the highest in the EU. In the North West, we live in the shadow of former industrial powerhouses, with unemployment black spots.
Whilst the narrative from the capital is one of progress, many villages, towns and cities here are struggling as the public sector shrinks. We are seeing many existing charities, co-operatives, social enterprises and social ventures, many of whom deliver essential services, attempting to adjust to the changed environment as austerity reduces the availability of grant funding. For many this means they must ‘grow, change or die’.
These are challenging times.
Sounds dramatic? But without change, the North-South divide will deepen. The same old stuff won’t work, new challenges need new ideas.
Organisations are looking to develop new products and services, moving into trading, using the profits they generate to support their transition, and deliver their social impact in a more sustainable way. But it’s not easy.
Which is where the Key Fund comes in. It enables this change. Think of it as a revolutionary movement – a new way of doing business.
As the biggest social investor operating across the whole of the North of England, it works with businesses that are about more than just profit, but deliver social impact.
Since it set out in 1999 with the aim to revitalise communities from the collapse of the coal and steel industries, it has evolved into helping to shape new kinds of industry.
We need daring, courage and fairness to live on this planet, things the Key Fund has in spades. Key Fund understands the challenges of working in disadvantaged communities and provides a wide range of support to organisations looking to make this transition: from direct 1-2-1 advice, to specialist investment readiness training via the ‘Early Days and Changing Ways’ programme, to providing investments up to £300,000 with the new ‘Resilience Fund’.
So whether you work for, or are a director or advisor of a charity, co-operative, social enterprise or social venture, perhaps it might be time to speak to the Key Fund about how they can help you to grow or change.
Phone Key Fund on 0845 1401400
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David Cameron has announced that Brooks Newmark will be the next minister for civil society.
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On this occasion, it was the company’s recently launched “Flat Panel Display recycling and employment project” at HMP Kirkham that impressed the judging panel.
