A record year for the Community Shares Booster Fund in 2025 

As the government seeks to double the size of the co‑operative economy, the Community Shares Booster Fund has provided a blueprint for how it can work in practice. 

In 2025, we awarded the most ever development grants – 30 awards totalling £248,000 were made for communities to prepare new community share offers.  

Meanwhile, for the first time ever, our match equity investments made over £1m of new institutional investment. These are investments in community shares offers, requiring at least the same amount of community investment to be raised, to encourage greater local investment and help more communities reach their investment goals for vital community projects.

In 2025 Co‑operatives UK, working with our partner Community Shares ICOF through the Booster Fund, collectively invested £1.22m. This unlocked an additional £5.54m of community investment, meaning for each £1 we invested, we helped an additional £4.54 of new community investment to be raised.  

This supported existing community co‑operatives like The Forum in Darlington and Bramley Baths in Leeds to undertake vital refurbishments, as well new start community asset projects like the New Clarence in Hull to save their pub.  

Bramley Baths provide more than 3,000 people with weekly swimming lessons – and thanks to a community share offer, many of those people are now its owners.

“For people to have ownership of a beautiful heritage building like this is rare. Especially in areas of high deprivation, it creates a strong sense of identity and pride. It gives people a feeling they belong and combats social isolation,“ said Business Development Manager Jennie Willets.

And when it came to their share offer, our support made a huge difference. “The Booster Fund was crucial – it not only helped boost our total, it also put us on the radar of Co‑operative Finance,” Jennie said. “They later gave us an additional £50,000. We wouldn’t have had that conversation without the Booster.” 

Since re‑opening as a community‑owned pub in the centre of Hulll, The New Clarence has scooped CAMRA’s Pub Saving Award – all thanks to the power of community, and community shares. 

With a £10,000 development grant from the Community Shares Booster Fund, Hull Community Pub Society – the group behind The New Clarence – built a solid business case for a share offer that raised £85,000 from local people, attracting 440 members. A further £75,000 in match equity and a £250,000 grant from the government’s Community Ownership Fund followed. 

“The £10,000 Booster Fund development grant was critical,” said Hull Community Pub Society’s Catherine Murray. “It meant we could get professional help to put together a business plan that funders would take seriously. The Community Shares Standard Mark was key – it shows you are a credible organisation. We wouldn’t have qualified for the COF or Booster match funding without it.” 

As we start 2026, we are pleased to announce new support from Esmée Fairbairn Foundation to help cover the core running costs of the Community Shares Unit. 

This will enable us to continue operating the Community Shares Standard Mark, supporting our pool of practitioners, updating vital resources like the handbook and promoting the community shares model with more funders, investors and communities.