Groundwork South Yorkshire is delighted to host this roundtable discussion to have an open dialogue about challenges in the social investment market.  We want to explore barriers and challenges faced not only by Voluntary, Community and SocialEnterprise (VCSE) organisations but also by social investors and other stakeholders that are engaging with social investment market. We hope this event along with our work over the past year and half through  ‘Social Investment Breakthrough’ project funded by ‘Connect Fund’ from ‘Barrow Cadbury Trust’ would achieve:

• Increased understanding of demand and supply-side barriers to the uptake of social investment
• Greater appreciation of the barriers to investment faced by some VCSE organisations
• Improved awareness of social investment, investors and social investment products
• Lay seeds of a possibly wider dialogue with social investors to reflect onproduct design
• Clearer and more ambitious growth strategies from VCSE sector organisations

We are excited to hear from the representatives of the following social investors:

• Access Foundation - https://access-socialinvestment.org.uk/
• First Ark -   https://www.firstark.com/
• Key Fund - https://thekeyfund.co.uk/
• Northstar Ventures - https://www.northstarventures.co.uk/
• Sporting Capital - https://www.sportingcapital.org.uk/
• Social Investment Business - https://www.sibgroup.org.uk/

We may also have a few more social investors joining us toshare their experiences and learnings.

Who should attend?

This event is appropriate for

• VCSE sector organisations that are exploring ways of accessing finance
• Organisations looking to apply for social investment
• Organisations that have failedto access social investment  but wouldl ike to understand how to improve their chances
• Start-up social businesses thatmay need to explore social investment in the near future
• Business Support and infrastructure organisations that work with and support VCSE organisations
• Any other stakeholders that engagewith the social investment market

Time table:

9:00 am - Registrations and informal networking

9:30 am-   Start      Session 1

10:45 am-  Break

11:00 am -  Session 2

12:30 pm – Finish

12:30- 1 pm- Lunch and networking

*Detailed agenda will follow nearer the time

Please let the organiser, Lahari Parchuri(lahari.parchuri@groundwork.org.uk) know about any food allergens or dietaryrequirements.