Social Enterprise Funder Celebrates 25 Years and £64 Million of Investment

17th March 2025

A social enterprise which provides critical funding to organisations and businesses with a social mission – ones that have been turned down by mainstream banks and building societies - is celebrating 25 years of transformational lending.

Established in Sheffield in 1999, Key Fund initially set out to respond to the collapse of the coal and steel industries in South Yorkshire, as well as encourage growth and investment in the hardest hit communities. 

Over the past quarter of a century, Key Fund has helped to create and safeguard over 5,000 jobs, while expanding to invest in over 3,000 different organisations, across towns and cities in the North of England and the Midlands. Every £1 of investment delivers impact of at least £4 and 70 of its funding goes into the most disadvantaged areas of northern England.

Key Fund’s investment in grants and loans has totalled £64 million, which has also unlocked a further £57 million of funding.

Working with social enterprises from Birmingham up to Newcastle, two key examples of its work include: The Big League Community Interest Company (CIC), a community hub in Hartlepool, and Ordinary Magic, an education and mental health support service for young people in Solihull.

The Big League, provides 1,600 meals a week with 200 volunteers, runs 17 vehicles and supplies 35,000 food parcels in Hartlepool, cited as in the top 1 of deprived areas in the UK. The organisation needed a bigger space to operate from and Key Fund provided a £90,000 loan and £60,000 grant to purchase a lease for its Bovis House headquarters in 2023. 

This investment secured the future of Bovis House which had stood empty for 15 years and now represents circa 60 of the CIC’s income. Since then, the organisation’s turnover has increased tenfold, rising from £60,000 before the pandemic to £600,000 afterwards.

Ian Cawley, Founder of The Big League, said: 
“Key Fund is absolutely remarkable. The team knows us as a business – meeting with us regularly to talk about our challenges and exploring how they can support us going forward. 
“Key Fund helps me implement the right processes for the business – particularly in HR and accounts – providing a stable platform for growth. Hand on heart, they’re so much more than just a lender; that’s only one part of what they do.”

Ordinary Magic supported 2,000 children during COVID-19, but didn’t qualify for government support as they needed to operate from their own building and hadn’t been trading long enough.

In December 2020, Key Fund gave them a £60,000 grant and loan to set up a community coffee shop, The Magic Bean. Post-COVID, the coffee shop has provided a place for people to come together in a safe and supportive way. 

The cafe created eight new jobs while also boosting profits to fund the organisation’s charitable aims – offering support for local children suffering from adverse experiences.

Katie Washbourne, Founder and CEO of Ordinary Magic, said: 
“We wouldn’t be here without money from Key Fund. Their support has allowed us to take full ownership of our business and be fully autonomous.”

Key Fund works with a variety of partners to support the growth of social impact and enterprise throughout the regions it operates in, including the Cabinet Office.

Stephanie Peacock MP,  Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Minister for Sport, Media, Civil Society and Youth), said: 
"Over the past 25 years Key Fund has proven that social investment is a powerful tool for unlocking growth and enabling economic sustainability, while increasing impact for community and social enterprises. 

"I thank everyone at Key Fund for their efforts in supporting the growth of organisations that deliver for communities across the North of England and the Midlands, and being such an important part of the UK's impact economy."

Discussing the impact Key Fund has had over the past 25 years and its ambitions for the years to come, Matt Smith, CEO of Key Fund, said: 
“I’m incredibly proud of the work we’ve done over the past 25 years and I’m even more excited about the work to come.

“From providing a few hundred grants and just one loan when I first joined in 2002, to investing in over 3,000 organisations across the North of England, we have had, and are continuing to have, a significant impact on the communities that benefit from it the most.

“But we can’t rest on our laurels. We’re committed to building on our progress to date and helping as many people and communities as we can.”
In the last three years alone, Key Fund’s investments in organisations across the North have benefitted almost 1.4million people.
To find out more about Key Fund visit the website:https://thekeyfund.co.uk/.