Kindred brings people in our community together to make positive change. We invest in socially-trading organisations (STOs) to create a kinder, fairer economy in Liverpool City Region.  

Kindred invests in socially-trading organisations to grow their impact in Liverpool City Region. We do this through:

  • Money
  • Support
  • Collaboration

Kindred was designed by our first 150 members to support the needs of entrepreneurs within our diverse communities.

So far, Kindred has invested £2.5m in 55 organisations. Between them, they have created over 100 jobs, levered a further £14m of investment and delivered £28.3m of social impact. 

  • 50% of our money and support goes to women-led social traders
  • 25% of money and support goes to Black-led social traders
  • 100% of our money and support goes to underinvested communities – either in geographical places, or who have a specific focus, like the environment, or young people

Kindred’s money is offered at 0% interest, is patient (long term) – and some money is repaid in social returns. Peer panels, with STOs who have already been through the investment process, make all Kindred investment decisions. But Kindred is more than money.

Kindred’s membership has swelled to over 1,000 socially-trading organisations. They collaborate throughout the city region, designing and testing social innovations that are inspired by their lived experience. They:

  • Form social innovation clusters where learning is shared and impact growth is accelerated.
  • Bring new content to underused spaces, creating new identities in low demand places and offering new, purposeful work to underemployed people.
  • Reframe problems to realise opportunities and provide support and services in their communities

Kindred social traders are driving system change – connecting, customising, re-designing, reorganising and inventing new services, products and places.

Collectively, 1,000 social traders are demonstrating how Liverpool City Region’s economy can be more inclusive, more sustainable, more caring and more fun.

Kindred supports social traders to build the future we want to live in.

What next?

Kindred is now working with a consortium of regional and national partners to deliver a Social Investment Pathfinder to scale investment from £5m to £50m, to accelerate the impact that social traders have demonstrated is possible.