Communitybuilders
Sums of between £250,000 and £750,000 available for funding property purchases or investment in equipment such as vehicles
The £27m regeneration loan fund Communitybuilders has reopened to charities and will make up to six "flagship" investments in community regeneration projects.
The fund was set up by the Labour government to help community-led organisations become more sustainable through a mixture of loans, grants and business support.
It was suspended pending a review by the Coalition government in July last year, then reopened for a time shortly afterwards for applicants who had to spend funds within a seven-week period. In March, it was made a permanently endowed fund.
Loans will be available for between £250,000 and £750,000, which can be used for activities such as buying and renovating property, and professional costs associated with it, or for the purchase of equipment such as vehicles and IT infrastructure.
Communitybuilders, which is managed by the Social Investment Business, will supply between 20 and 50 per cent of any funding package, with organisations expected to find the remainder from other match-funders.
Communitybuilders is a £27m permanent fund, endowed by the Communities and Local Government department to the Adventure Capital Fund earlier this year.
It was originally set up as a grant and loan fund with £60m from the CLG and another £10m from the Office for Civil Society, administered by ACF through its subsidiary the SIB.
It began lending in 2009, but has in effect been closed to applications since the coalition government came to power. Earlier this year, the government agreed to an ACF proposal that it should continue as an "evergreen" fund.
