Match-funding scheme to help communities rebuild from Covid-19
News item
A new match-funding programme designed to help local communities recover, adapt and rebuild resilience through the Covid-19 pandemic has been launched.
Community Business ReBoost
For every pound raised through community shares, the Community Shares ReBoost Fund will match it up to £25,000. Development grants up to £5,000 are also available to help businesses to prepare a share offer.
Delivered by Co-operatives UK and Locality with funding from Power to Change, the fund supports community businesses to plan and prepare a community share offer. This will enable them to build business resilience, so they can continue to deliver their key services and protect their assets for the benefit of their local neighbourhoods.
Who can apply?
The programme particularly targets existing community businesses who are community benefit societies, co-operative societies or charitable community benefit societies. Established community businesses willing to convert to a society model to launch a community share offer can also be supported. The community business must be based in England. Find out what support is available for groups elsewhere in the UK.
What support is available?
- Development grants – up to £5,000 for community businesses to prepare a community share offer. The grant can fund: financial planning, governance support, marketing costs and achieving the Community Shares Standard Mark
- Match equity investment – typically matching pound for pound up to £25,000 invested by the Booster Programme, providing that the minimum share offer target is achieved.
Powering up community business leaders
Co-operatives UK is also partnering with Power to Change and other organisations to deliver a tailored package of support to enable community business leaders to increase their knowledge, capacity and business skills to help them navigate the coronavirus pandemic.
Powering Up allows leaders to access a mix and match package of support that best suits them and their business needs. Support could include: business skills advice; human resource advice; financial planning; digitisation and moving services online; business planning in changing times; and peer to peer mentoring alongside wellbeing and coaching sessions.
Powering Up is open to all community businesses in England; however, priority will be given to community businesses in England’s most deprived areas as well as to organisations supporting and led by disabled people and/or people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME)* groups.