Enterprise Support

The Forward Enterprise Fund is £2 million social investment fund that supports charities and social enterprises run by, or creating employment opportunities for, ex-offenders and people in recovery from addiction.

The Fund provides access to unsecured loans between £25,000 – £150,000 for revenue and/or capital projects (typical interest rate 7.5%) for up to a five year term.

Eligible organisations will also have access to grants to pay for up to ten days of pre-investment business support. Organisations who receive investment will also be able to apply for post-investment business support.

Individuals or start-up enterprises with a bright idea can also access Crowdfunder support with match-funding available from The Forward Trust.

Deadline: Continuous rolling programme until Fund is spent.

Who we help

We can help you if you live in England and are:

An ex-offender; or In recovery from addiction; or Unemployed or not in education, employment or training; or Facing other challenges or barriers to starting your own business

How we help

You’ll be assigned an Enterprise Coach and where appropriate, a Business Mentor who will guide you through every step of your journey. Our service is primarily delivered through face-to-face contact but we are able to support you remotely as well.

Our support includes:

• Information, advice and guidance for starting up during and post-Covid; developing the right mind set; how to develop your business; business planning; applying for funding; and getting ready to launch; and tax issues
• Help applying for funding
• Access to our partners for networking and additional business support
• Access to our workshops and masterclasses, in conjunction with our corporate partners including Deloitte
• Funding via our Forward Enterprise Micro-Grant (subject to availability of funds)
• Structured informal and accredited Enterprise Training
• Access to our bank of online resources including business plan templates, pre-recorded sessions, vlogs, inspirational webinars and much more

If there’s something else you would like our help with but aren’t sure whether it’s covered, just drop us a line and we’ll let you know whether we can help.

Please note: If you’re looking for support via The Forward Enterprise Fund or Crowdfunding, the fund has now closed and we are no longer accepting applications via the Crowdfunding scheme.