Grant Directories

The Cornwall Community Foundation was established in 2003. It awards funding to local charities, community and voluntary groups and social enterprise for projects which strengthen and make a real difference to communities in Cornwall. Through the Cornwall Social Enterprise Fund, the Foundation provides two forms of investment to social enterprises: Start-up support will offer grants of around £5,000 to new start-ups in the early stages of their trading; and Step-up support will offer grants averaging £20,000 to help established social enterprises grow their businesses. Higher awards for both streams are available. Organisations are encouraged to submit expressions of interest.

The Reach Fund is a two year £4million grant programme that is funded by Access - The foundation for Social Investment and is available to social enterprises in England. The programme aims to test a new model for investment readiness support. Investment readiness has long been recognised as an issue that prevents charities and social enterprises from accessing social investment. This programme provides grant funding of up to £15,000 to pay for the support required for these organisations to become investment ready. To be eligible for funding organisations must be referred to Reach by their social investor (an approved access point) and complete the diagnostic tool on the website.

Bridges Ventures was founded in 2002 with the vision that hands-on investment and entrepreneurial talent can be used to address some of the challenges facing our society, as well as drive sustainable growth. Bridges Ventures investment strategy is to focus on opportunities where investments can generate investor returns through helping meet pressing social or environmental challenges - be it backing businesses that generate jobs in underserved markets, or building environmentally friendly care homes for the elderly to sustain an ageing population, or providing flexible financing for innovative community transport models.