Time for social enterprise to become mainstream and Yorkshire town of Settle offers inspiring blueprint - Matt Smith

In Yorkshire, we are well-versed in responding to adversity and economic downturn. Key Fund was set up 20 years ago to reignite communities left on their knees after the collapse of coal, steel and other major industries. We set out to put modest sums into the right hands at the right time, backing people living and working in those areas, supporting them to build social and community enterprises that have a big impact.

Put simply, social and community enterprises are businesses that aim to change the world for the better. They make profits like any other enterprise, but reinvest it into positive social or environmental change. A well-known example is The Big Issue.

I started working at Key Fund in 2002 as a Grants and Loans Officer when the social enterprise sector was in its infancy. Growing up in disadvantaged areas in Doncaster, I saw my family and neighbours’ struggle. I saw the impact of unemployment and the often sharp decline that followed for people, families and neighbourhoods, and how poverty became inter-generational. I was lucky, I had some great role models and grew through education and employment. But these experiences instilled in me a bullet-proof belief in equity of opportunity for all – especially for those born to disadvantage or to discrimination.

One of my personal drivers has been to make finance accessible to those enterprises turned down by mainstream finance, to level up that playing field. That’s why I’m particularly proud that 80 per cent of Key Fund’s investments are in organisations that are in the top 30 per cent most deprived communities on the indices of multiple deprivation. These are enterprises working in the most difficult circumstances, with limited resources, but achieving amazing things. 

Over the last two decades, Key Fund has supported over 2,500 social and community enterprises, enabling 1,315 new jobs, safeguarding 2,094 jobs and creating 519 new businesses, all working to tackle deep-rooted challenges, from homelessness and young people not in education or employment, to mental ill-health and the environmental crisis.

Before lockdown, social enterprises were estimated to contribute £60bn a year to the UK economy.

In the post Covid-19 economy, where inequality is clearer than ever to all of us, from the disproportionately high rates of mortality from Covid-19 amongst BAME people, to the huge numbers of children going without food during school holidays. Now is the time for change, and for the social enterprise movement to become mainstream.

If supported to survive by emergency grants during lockdowns, this sector can plug vital gaps and help the bounce-back. The small rural north Yorkshire town, Settle, provides an inspiring blueprint. Ten years ago, as pioneers in the sector, Key Fund supported Settle Hydro – Yorkshire’s first community-owned hydroelectric scheme that uses clean green energy to power 50 homes. Any surplus revenue from selling green hydro-electricity is invested in regenerating the local economy. Settle Hydro went on to advise over 400 communities worldwide on how to take responsibility for their future.

In turn, Settle Hydro led to Settle Victoria Hall – a social enterprise we also support – which grew into a thriving arts and community centre. As well as gigs, a community-run bar and cinema, Victoria Hall supported 150 volunteers and 30 community groups, with U3A classes from line dancing to philosophy. A profitable business, it also became a lifeline for many rurally isolated and the elderly.

During the pandemic, led by social entrepreneur Ann Harding, the hall was repurposed into the Settle Community Response, delivering 1,500 prescriptions, setting up a foodbank and helpline. In lockdown it opened an outdoor summer café and new services to meet need, while even creating jobs – all while wrapping its arms around the community.

Social enterprise is a model for these times. It fits with the rise of localism, driving job creation while providing vital services. It is proof that humanity can drive our economy. As government refocuses on a greener and fairer economy, here in Yorkshire, we can show them how it’s done.

Matt Smith is chief executive officer of Key Fund.

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