Multi-million pound investment and training programme launches for ‘proper good’ Stockport entrepreneurs to tackle inequalities
Multi-million pound investment and training programme backed by Andy Burnham launches for ‘proper good’ Stockport entrepreneurs to tackle inequalities
WATCH: Video of Stockport entrepreneur, Jo McGrath, who launches investment and mentoring programme "they wished they'd had" to help fellow business owners and start-ups.
Entrepreneurs in the borough can apply to be a part if the Proper Good social business programme that gives them access to a pot of £8.25million investment, support and advice.
Sector3 CEO Jo McGrath
An £8.25million investment and support programme has launched today to support Stockport’s entrepreneurs to start or grow businesses that tackle inequalities in communities.
The new Proper Good programme is offering grant funding, social investment and free-to-access, tailored training and business support to entrepreneurs in four areas of Greater Manchester – Bolton, Oldham, Stockport and Wigan. The support can be at every stage from start-up to scale-up - with a focus on those creating a positive social or environmental impact in their area.
Jo McGrath, Stockport’s Proper Good programme lead, and chief executive of Sector3 said: “We know that business can be used as a force for good in Stockport – and a powerful way to tackle our borough’s inequalities.
“This programme invites people with bright ideas or growing businesses that do good in the community to join the programme. They will get to access free tailored business support and training to help them take the next steps to fulfil their enterprise potential.
"We will be using our experiences as social entrepreneurs to encourage people to think about how their businesses can be 'social enterprises’ – where they are committed to improving communities – as well as profit margins.”
The five-year programme is being jointly funded by Big Society Capital and Access – The Foundation for Social Investment and Greater Manchester is just one of six regions from across England to take the programme forward.
Two million pounds will go to the local delivery leads who are all experienced social entrepreneurs to develop socially responsible businesses in their boroughs and £6.25 million will be distributed by Greater Manchester Centre for Voluntary Organisation (GMCVO) as social investment to help those businesses grow.
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham, formally launched the programme today (May 24) at a virtual event held for public, private and voluntary sector organisations.
He said: “This programme sums up how we can make Greater Manchester a better place to live for everyone. You can’t look at economic progress in isolation - it has to go hand in hand with social progress, too.
“This programme combines the best of both to empower communities to confront inequalities, poverty and build fairer economies that benefit all residents.
“Cross-sector partnerships are key to place-based regeneration and real levelling up – I look forward to seeing how these partnerships develop thanks to this programme over the next five years.”
Philip Arnold, Chair of the Proper Good Social Business Support Programme, said: “We’ve seen our communities hit hard for years – which has only been exacerbated by the pandemic, this is our opportunity to empower local people to do something about it and turn their small businesses or ideas into forces for change that help make our communities better for everyone. Change can happen today.”
Entrepreneurs wanting to find more about the programme can visit the webpage below.
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS:
Contact Grace Dyke for more information: grace@yellowjigsaw.co.uk or call 07859 177 499
ABOUT BIG SOCIETY CAPITAL
Big Society Capital exists to improve the lives of people in the UK through social impact investing. We unite ideas, expertise and capital to create investment solutions for the UK's social challenges, supporting organisations that deliver both positive social impact and sustainable financial returns. So far, we have helped channel £2.5 billion* into investments tackling a wide range of problems such as homelessness, mental ill health and childhood obesity.
To widen access to social impact investing, we have partnered with Schroders, a global asset and wealth manager, to launch the listed Schroder BSC Social Impact Trust plc. As the portfolio manager, we provide investors with high impact investments that contribute to solutions to social challenges alongside targeting long-term capital growth and income.
Further information about Big Society Capital can be found at www.bigsocietycapital.com
*As at 31 December 2020
Press Contact
Caroline Hailstone, PR and Media Relations Officer, Big Society Capital
E: chailstone@bigsocietycapital.com
ABOUT ACCESS
Access – The Foundation for Social Investment works to make charities and social enterprises in England more financially resilient and self-reliant, so that they can sustain or increase their impact.
Access does this by supporting the development of enterprise activity to grow and diversify income and improving access to the social investment which can help stimulate that enterprise activity.
Access is a ten-year spend-down foundation, but the need for this work will continue well beyond that. So, the approach of the Foundation is to work through others to create partnerships which can outlive us, test and learn from new approaches, and generate knowledge which improves the work of others seeking the same goals.
Set up in 2015, Access was endowed with £60 million by the Government to support more organisations to access social investment. It also runs the Growth Fund, a blended finance programme supporting small scale lending to the sector, on behalf of the National Lottery Community Fund and Big Society Capital.
Over the last three years Access has received a further £40m of funds from dormant bank accounts to develop blended finance programmes in six communities around England and support the sector recover from the pandemic.
www.access-socialinvestment.org.uk
Press Contact
Chandani Koria, Finance, Operations and Communications Officer, Access
T: 020 7084 6832, E: Chandani.koria@access-si.org.uk