Across the UK, public sector organisations are facing a stark and growing paradox.
The ambition to strengthen local economies, support community organisations and drive inclusive growth has never been greater – yet budget pressures and limited funding have never been more acute.
At the same time, grassroots organisations that could be helping to deliver real change in our most deprived communities are struggling to access the support and funding that they need to get started, grow, or simply stay afloat.
The result is unmet need and widening inequity.
While this is not a new story, it is becoming an increasingly urgent one.
As the Lancashire Combined County Authority (LCCA) takes on greater devolved responsibilities, the question of how it builds capacity to support the voluntary and community sector becomes critical.
I believe social investment – done well and done locally – is a significant part of the answer.
For more than 26 years, Key Fund has invested in mission-driven organisations across the North of England.
Turned away by commercial lenders, these aren’t businesses chasing profit – they are enterprises driven by purpose.
We have backed food banks, mental health services, veterans’ services, and youth organisations, to name but a few, to create jobs, deliver essential services, and reinvest back into their communities.
And, through more than a decade of my own tenure as CEO, I have seen first-hand the transformational difference that the right money, at the right time and in the right hands, can make.
Social investment can be a strategic asset for the public sector, helping to deliver policy targets where traditional funding falls short – not just a resource for organisations.
Local authorities face practical constraints – limited staff capacity, complex due diligence processes, procurement rules, and the challenge of reaching deliberately hyperlocal organisations that often fly beneath the radar.
Social investors already have the infrastructure, expertise, and established processes to help.
We are genuine capacity extenders. We bring ready-made funding mechanisms, compliance processes built over 26 years, deep regional knowledge, and trusted relationships with vital community organisations across Lancashire and beyond.
A community energy project we back reduces carbon emissions, but it also cuts fuel bills, generates surplus, and funds other community activity, strengthening the long-term sustainability of local assets.
The evidence is compelling. Social investment consistently demonstrates returns across economic, social, and environmental lines that traditional grant funding alone cannot match.
Crucially, repayable finance means capital recycles – money invested in one organisation returns to fund another.
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This multiplier effect is something that Lancashire’s public sector can take advantage of by working through trusted intermediaries.
If we want to meaningfully change Lancashire, we must back the organisations that are already delivering for their neighbourhoods. Social investment gives us the mechanism.
The challenge now is embracing it at scale.