Receive a loan of between £50k and £1.5m, up to 100% grant match funding on loans secured, support through the application process and follow-on business support.
Flexible Finance supports organisations that are improving people’s lives, or the environment they live in. The Ubele Initiative’s partnership with the Social Investment Business (SIB) and Access – the Foundation for Social Investment is making loans more accessible for charities and social enterprises led by people from Black and Racially Minoritised communities.
Flexible Finance offers loans of up to £1.5m to charities and social enterprises. In addition to a loan, Black and Racially-Minoritised-led organisations will receive:
Personalised support to apply for Flexible Finance
Unrestricted grants of up to 100% of the loan value (capped at £200k)
Bespoke business support once finance has been secured
To be eligible to apply for Flexible Finance and receive additional support as a Black and Racially-Minoritised-led organisation, the following criteria apply:
Charity or social enterprise
At least 51% of Board and Senior Leadership Team from Black and Racially-Minoritised-led communities
Above £200k turnover
Applying for a loan of between £50k and £1.5m
Operating for more than 2 years
Operating in England
How to Apply
Flexible Finance is open for applications until 11.59pm on Sunday 31st of December 2023.
Organisations that intend to access additional support as a Black and Racially-Minoritised-led organisation should select “Ubele Initiative” as the partner they would like to assess their application on their application form. For more information, contact josh.falconerroberts@ubele.org, or arrange a call to discuss your organisation and your plans by completing this form.
All details on Flexible Finance, including full eligibility criteria, FAQs and application form can be found on: https://www.sibgroup.org.uk/funds/flexible-finance/
Additional support is being made available alongside Flexible Finance to address historical imbalances in the access to finance that affect Black and Racially Minoritised-led organisations.
The recent Reforming Social Enterprise report from the Adebowale Commission highlighted that structural barriers prevent Black-led social enterprises from accessing social investment and debt-based finance. SIB’s analysis of data on over 4,000 organisations in its diversity dashboard found that Black and Racially-Minoritised-led organisations tend to be smaller in size and less likely to access loan finance. In response to these findings, a partnership between SIB, Access, The Ubele Initiative and Create Equity has been formed to offer additional support to Black and Racially-Minoritised-led organisations.
SIB operate Flexible Finance, providing loans of up to £1.5m to eligible organisations. Access, through their Flexible Finance programme, has made £2m in grant match funding available to organisations accessing loans from Flexible Finance. The Ubele Initiative and Create Equity are the delivery partners, bringing their networks, expertise and understanding to the project, and providing support to organisations throughout the funding application and assessment process.
We hold regular online information sessions for Flexible Finance.
For details and to register, please our Events Page.
You can also watch the video of one of our previous sessions below.
