On 24th October 2016, Northstar Ventures became the first North East based Access Point, allowing it to help charities and social enterprises secure social investment more quickly.
Access Points are social investors designated by the Reach Fund to refer charities and social enterprises to its investment readiness programme. If accepted VCSE organisations can access grant funding to undertake a specific piece of work, to help them close a deal or secure social investment.
Peter Gilson, Investment Manager at Northstar Ventures said: “We wanted to become an Access Point to ensure that North East VCSEs receive the support they need.
“We meet so many organisations in the region that are incredibly passionate about the work they do and who have plans in place to become financially sustainable. The Reach Fund allows us to work with these organisations to identify their needs and help them apply for a grant to complete any work that is required. In turn this allows the organisation to unlock the social investment they need to achieve long term sustainability.
“Being an Access Point fits well with our partnership approach, as we believe in building long term relationships with the organisations we invest in. We’d recommend any charity or social enterprise that is thinking about social investment gets in touch, whatever stage in their journey they’re at.”
Northstar believes in ideas. If you are an organisation interested in applying for social investment, feel free to get in touch with Northstar to have a chat about how they can help your idea become reality:
Peter Gilson, Social Investment Manager: peter@northstarventures.co.uk 0191 229 2786
Michelle Cooper, Social Investment Manager: michelle@northstarventures.co.uk 0191 229 2773