Social Impact Report
2023/2024

“It’s the best feeling knowing I’m making a difference to someone’s day, or even their life.”

Let’s Get Started

Sam Keighley, Chair

The enormity of the challenges facing these organisations, particularly those supporting most marginalised groups, means we can’t do this alone.

View all our Case Studies

Creating ripples of change for our communities

In this financial year:

  • We have invested
    £0m
    in loans and grants
  • as a result of our investment an additional
    £0m
    has been levered in
  • meaning that
    £0m
    has gone into
  • 0
    organisations this last year
  • Employing
    0
    individuals
  • who provide support and services to over
    0
    beneficiaries
 

In the last 24 years:

  • who provide support and services to over
    £0m
    in loans and grants
  • who provide support and services to over
    £0m
    has been levered in
  • who provide support and services to over
    £0m
    has gone into
  • who provide support and services to over
    0
    organisations
  • who provide support and services to over
    0
    individuals
  • who provide support and services to over
    £0m
    of impact

Investing in our Future

The £300m Youth Investment Fund is a transformative one.

By creating, expanding, and improving local youth facilities across the country, it is improving outcomes for a generation.

As a delivery partner, it’s been rewarding to work alongside Resonance and the National Youth Agency, to support Social Investment Business deliver this lifechanging fund. We share a common vision and ethos.

We’re proud to have allocated over £50m across 90 sites, predominantly in the North West, Yorkshire, and the Humber.

Many of the organisations supported are using young people in the design of their youth services – something we can really get behind.

The organisations in this sector do incredible work in difficult circumstances. They need support beyond just capital. At Key Fund, we’re used to providing investment to organisations serving communities most in need, to enable their growth and sustainability.

The Key Fund relationship managers delivered that extra care to help grantees overcome challenges faced, pre and post-investment, and continue to support the grantees.

One of our central missions is to support organisations furthest away from mainstream finance, to help them deliver their life-changing services; working to make sure the flow of money runs to those places, and supports those who do not usually get funds, has been front and centre of our minds.

We’re proud of the diversity and breadth of organisations benefiting from this fund, from small voluntary led charities to large Local Authority-owned assets. The Youth Investment Fund is helping to transform youth services all over England, ensuring youth centres of all shapes and sizes can enhance their services and reach more young people.

The Youth Investment Fund has shown what can be achieved when we work together with shared vision and values.

Case Study

The Florrie

The Florrie, a Grade II listed building in Liverpool, is a social, cultural, and educational community hub, with its own radio station, Radio Florrie. The Florrie is an existing Key Fund client.

The Florrie dates to the 1930s but closed in the 1980s when it fell into disrepair. It remained closed for 23 years, until the local community raised £7.5 million to restore it to its former glory. Today it is a place of community pride, loved and cherished by everyone.

A community space, it had no dedicated space for young people.

A Youth Investment Fund grant of £834,000 transformed an empty, damp basement to give them a place of their own. It offers a social space to relax and chill, with two recreational rooms, a radio studio, kitchenette, and digital hub.

Anne Lundon, CEO for the Florrie said: “The Youth Investment Fund has given the Florrie’s young people a vibrant space to call their own. But its impact is far greater than just bricks and mortar, it’s about investing in young people’s lives, empowering them to have a say in their future and given them a new lease of life, and the opportunity to have fun, grow in confidence, develop new skills, and take pride in their space. More than anything it’s giving young people a sense of belonging and continuity.”

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Statement

We continue to believe that Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion has to be at the heart of everything that we do – supporting the creation of resilient and successful communities. This is what we have been working on this year.

Diversifying investees

We are in dialogue with our investees and other social enterprises to make sure we are as accessible as possible to the communities most in need. We are also monitoring the makeup of our investees and the communities they are serving. Taking part in the delivery of the Social
Enterprise Support Fund 2 that was referenced in Matt’s intro has supported our focus on this due to the rightly challenging targets on this contract.

We are on a long-term training journey. This year we are reflecting on our power, privilege and personal bias

Working with partners

We understand that we can’t single handily remove structural barriers to finance. That’s why we are actively collaborating with other social investors to share knowledge and best practice and have signed up to Diversity Forum’s sector wide Manifesto.

Marketing

We have integrated an EDI lens into our marketing and communication strategy. This means cultivating longterm and mutually beneficial partnerships with social enterprises led by/supporting marginalised groups to act as critical friend; diversifying our infrastructure and community led organisations networks and building trust in Key Fund and social investment more widely.

Inclusive workforce

We have invested resource dedicated to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion work.

We are on a long-term training journey. This year we are reflecting on our power, privilege and personal bias and further developing our inclusive behaviours.

In order to actively remove barriers to entering the social investment sector we are setting up a training scheme for young people from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds in the social investment sector.

Our gender pay gap is 6%, the salary for a male member of the team is 6% higher on average.

Governance

We have diversified the membership of both our Investment Panel and Board. We are integrating an equity, diversity and inclusion lens into our governance, strategic aims and decision making at Board and Investment Panel level. We have a staff and board EDI Working Group that oversees the implementation of our annual EDI Action Plan.