North East chartered accountants and business advisors UNW is urging VCSEs to get in touch after being accredited as a Big Potential provider.
Launched in 2014, the £10m fund is aimed at eligible voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations (VCSEs) to improve their sustainability, capacity and scale and help them deliver greater social impact for communities across England.
Depending on their specific needs, applicants can take either the Big Potential Breakthrough or Advanced route, and a grant from the fund will help VCSEs get specialist and tailored support to become investment ready. Approved as a provider in March 2017, Newcastle-based UNW is the only organisation in the North East who currently offer the Advanced route.
The fund has already helped VCSEs in a variety of ways, from ensuring they have the correct financial systems and models in place, to helping them understand the market for their specific product or service.
Paul Kaiser, Corporate Finance Partner at UNW, said: “We are delighted to have been approved as a provider for Big Potential. We believe that VCSEs will benefit hugely from the experience and expertise across all our departments as they look to achieve investment readiness. We will be working with a variety of partners to ensure that organisations get access to relevant external support too.”
“We recognise the value of the work of organisations within this sector and believe that Big Potential is an ideal opportunity for them to access the backing they need to flourish and deliver even greater social impact. However, deadlines are fast approaching for applicants to register interest, with some as early as June 2017. We urge interested parties within the region to assess their options and get in touch for an informal chat.”
Big Potential is administered by the Social Investment Business on behalf of the Big Lottery Fund in partnership with Locality, Social Enterprise UK, Charity Bank and the University of Northampton.