Social investment can play a vital role alongside grants and other forms of funding to support social enterprises and charities to scale their impact and become more resilient and sustainable. But social enterprises and charities in the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) area currently access less investment than other regions, raise less than 50% of their investment they apply for and are more likely to be deterred by a lack of information or understanding.

The Mayor and the WMCA are committed to doubling the size of the social economy in the West Midlands. Together we need to bust some of the myths that exist around social investment.

Infrastructure organisations like yours play a vital role in supporting the social economy and are often the first port of call for charities and social enterprises seeking advice, guidance and signposting.

But how confident do you feel when signposting organisations to social investment?

The Scoping Social Investment tool enables you to benchmark your understanding of social investment, the appetite within your network to access it and your confidence in signposting organisations. Together we want to build a picture of what the network of support in the West Midlands looks like, and where we need to get to to maximise the potential of the social economy.

To get involved:

1. Complete the Scoping Social Investment questionnaire here

2. Let us know your result here (these will be kept anonymous!) 

Social Investment Unpicked  is an 8-week interactive e-learning programme that seeks to provide infrastructure and memberships bodies with an introduction to social investment and help deepen their understanding of how it works so as to be able to better support and signpost members.

 From completing the programme, you will have a better understanding of:

• What social investment is and how it sits alongside grants and other forms of funding or income;

• The different types of social investment available;

• How organisations across the UK have used social investment, and why;

• How to measure and communicate impact and create a theory of change;

• What tools, resources and support are available to organisations exploring social investment.

Your learning will take place online using videos, slides, interactive quizzes and assignments and webinar sessions with your cohort. We estimate you will need a maximum of 12 hours in total to complete the programme across the 8-week period.

The next programme will begin on Tuesday 9th April with a welcome session online from 1-2pm.

If you are interested in taking part in this programme or a future cohort, please register your interest here.

Bursaries of £300 are available to qualifying organisations to participate in Social Investment Unpicked. There is no charge to take part in the programme, but bursaries are designed to support with your time and capacity. Even if you do not qualify for a bursary, you can still take part in the programme free of charge.

Bursaries will be made available for organisations who meet the following criteria*:

• You must be working on behalf of an infrastructure organisations, membership network or capacity builder based in and operating in West Midlands Combined Authority.

• You must have an active role in supporting and signposting charities, social enterprises and community businesses in the West Midlands Combined Authority area.

*Please note that bursaries will be limited to one per organisation subject to demand.

We recently hosted an information session for organisations to provide further information on this work. You can access the links to the slides, recording and further resources here.

Recording of the session: available here

West Midlands Combined Authority slides: available here

Good Finance slides: available here