Kindred update, November 2024

After a busy summer at Kindred, here’s an update on the areas we’ve been working in…

If you haven’t had a chance to read it yet, last month we released our 2023 impact report, taking in two years of updates from our investee STOs – and the success of their hard work is clear. The 44 STOs we’ve committed money to created 49 new jobs in 2023 (and 126 jobs in two years); they also increased turnover by 77% since 2021 and attracted £14m of additional funding. Significantly, 49% of the money we invest goes to women-led organisations, and 25% to Black-led social businesses, and we know that this is an approach that really makes Kindred stand out. 

We’re starting to see evidence of the long term economic change that social businesses can deliver – they are robust, resilient and sustainable, playing a vital role in creating thriving neighbourhoods and communities. You can read the impact report in full, here…

Social Investment Pathfinder

The Social Investment Pathfinder was launched at the end of 2023, designed to use social investment to foster economic growth, stimulate innovation and create positive social impact across Liverpool City Region. It builds on the city region’s Social Enterprise Place accreditation in autumn 2023, which recognises that social enterprise is thriving here. Led for Kindred by Joanne Anderson, the Pathfinder now has a draft financial model and operating model to drive the next stage of its development.

We’re on course to evidence supporting £15m worth of STO property deals so far, which will inform the property arm of the pathfinder and make sure that it will always be STO-led. Fundraising for the model and developing the business case will be the next step for the Pathfinder, which you can find out more about on our blog here.

Investing in Black-led businesses

We’ve agreed a co-venture agreement with Joanne Anderson and Innervision for partnership working on BlaST and the Pathway Fund, as we proactively collaborate with social economy partners. Joanne leads the development of BlaST in its ambition to become a Black and Minority Ethnic-led fund and support programme.

BlaST’s new support programme has also begun, with a cohort of 12 ethnically-diverse businesses, which will run for the next six months, and plays a vital part in the Kindred ecosystem by delivering our goal of 25% of investment to Black-led social businesses.

You can find out more about our work with BlaST and keep updated with the programme’s progress here.

Investing across LCR

Thanks to a successful partnership bid to National Lottery, led by Platform Places, we’re one of five organisations sharing £2.5m over the next three years, for our place-based work across Liverpool City Region.

Street and a Half launch, St Helens

That support is helping us to deliver change across Knowsley and St Helens. September saw us launch our Street and a Half project in St Helens; a social and creative business incubator, supported by a £160k grant from St Helens Council UKSPF (that we opened with a bang!).

The five ‘Local Property Partnerships’ are designed to empower local community leaders to work with councils, funders and private asset owners to repurpose old buildings, breathing new life into our high streets and town centres as part of that wider plan.

You can read more about it and the Platform Places support here.

Pausing our investment round in July, which saw 52 applications from STOs in three months, has helped us to provide more tailored and bespoke support to STOs, with reinvestment into two STOs alongside six new investments.

During that period, we’ve also been able to share £480,000 from Access, The Foundation for Social Investment, from its Cost of Living funds. Together, we’ve co-invested in 30 STOs who are developing their trading income and continue to support communities who’re facing particularly difficult circumstances due to the cost-of-living crisis.

Investing in new ideas

This year also saw us get creative and reach out more to younger people. Occupy, ran for a month in September, hosted by Ideas Work, our youth arm. The project engaged with younger audiences across Liverpool City Region, giving them the platform and the confidence to talk about ideas and work.

Taking over a unit in the Baltic Triangle, Occupy gave them time, space and the resources to try out new ideas with a social agenda or benefit. Early feedback has been hugely positive, and we’re about to evaluate the programme – and we’ll let you know the results as soon as we can.

Occupy