Addressing Poverty at Home: A New Dimension to Our Mission
We are all aware of the poverty amidst plenty in the United Kingdom. For many, things are getting worse—the proliferation of food banks, rising homelessness, and the weakening of family support networks paint a stark picture of deepening challenges. Through no fault of their own, many people are unable to live decent lives.
The State is increasingly unable to afford or effectively implement programmes to deal with this growing problem. Voluntary organisations and NGOs contribute to solving these challenges, but resource constraints and bureaucratic inefficiencies severely limit what they can achieve.
Normally we would not expect that Enterprise for Development could or should play any part in dealing with this huge issue. Our focus has always been on sustainable healthcare and agri-businesses in Africa that generate benefits for those on lower incomes. However, an opportunity arose where investment by EfD could play a significant catalytic role—and it aligned perfectly with our core charitable objectives: the relief or prevention of poverty and the advancement of health.
A Rare Catalytic Opportunity
In November 2024, EfD committed £100,000 to the Resonance Enterprise Investment Fund (REIF)—our first investment in the United Kingdom. This investment was made subject to sufficient other funds being raised and was designed to accelerate the fund to its first financial close. Our commitment helped give other investors the confidence to participate, ultimately enabling the full £10 million vehicle that reached first financial closed of £1.3m in November 2025.
This represents a rare opportunity for a small charity like EfD to support a sustainable, scalable initiative that could make an important difference. By providing a model that can be replicated across the UK over time, REIF addresses some of the country's most pressing challenges: reducing economic inequality, improving health and wellbeing, and supporting disadvantaged communities.
Why We Chose REIF as an Investment Vehicle
Resonance: A Proven Partner
Resonance has a successful ten-year track record using innovative asset-backed finance to address poverty-related challenges in low-income areas across the UK. What impressed us was their ability to:
- Successfully attract social finance from multiple stakeholders
- Work effectively with local government and non-government partners to implement sustainable, cost-effective pro-poor solutions
- Achieve value for money by leveraging funds from financial institutions, social finance, and grants
- Maintain financial sustainability over many years, giving confidence in their integrity, intentions, effectiveness, ability and judgement
Their approach is conceptually similar to models we understand from international development finance—an approach that has proven effective in mobilizing capital for social impact.
An Innovative Evolution
Until now, Resonance has provided and mobilised social finance to fund investment-ready social enterprises developing property and related services for disadvantaged beneficiaries. REIF represents an evolution of this work: moving beyond property-focused investments to develop early-stage opportunities and increase the flow of patient capital to financially sustainable ventures that improve lives.
The fund provides flexible finance to high-impact social enterprises across England, initially focusing on the South West, West Midlands, and North West regions. It supports enterprises that work directly with underserved communities in areas of high deprivation—creating employment for people facing significant barriers to work, delivering essential health and social care services, and improving livelihoods through community-led initiatives.
Tangible Community Benefits
The types of social enterprises supported by REIF demonstrate real impact:
- Small social enterprise breweries expanding to create employment and support for adults with learning disabilities and autism
- Domiciliary care teams providing specialized end-of-life care
- Community wood projects training people experiencing long-term unemployment whilst providing access to reused materials
- Sports retailers employing people facing barriers to work, including those experiencing homelessness or disability
Blended Finance Innovation
What particularly attracted us to this investment is REIF's sophisticated blended finance approach, which combines:
- Community Investment Tax Relief (CITR) for investors
- The Growth Guarantee Scheme providing 70% government-backed guarantee through British Business Bank
- Access Foundation grant funding reducing the cost of capital for social enterprises
- Flexible finance products including launchpad loans, patient loans, revenue share agreements, and equity options
This structure enables the fund to provide affordable, patient capital to social enterprises that struggle to access conventional finance—precisely the market gap we see in our African portfolio companies.
A Strong Investor Consortium
EfD joined an impressive group of impact-first investors, including:
- The Ceniarth UK Foundation – an impact-first single-family office focused on improving livelihoods in disinvested communities
- Unity Trust Bank – the UK's leading ethical bank with over 40 years of social impact lending
- Access – The Foundation for Social Investment – providing substantial grant funding to enhance affordability for borrowers
- British Business Bank – supporting the fund through its Growth Guarantee Scheme
Alignment with Our Core Mission
Whilst this investment represents our first in the United Kingdom, it is a natural extension of our charitable objectives. The parallels with our work in Africa are clear: identifying and supporting sustainable, high-impact enterprises that generate tangible benefits for those on lower incomes.
The fund's focus on Equality, Diversity and Inclusion throughout its investment process, combined with its commitment to flexible, tailored financing, reflects best practice in development finance—principles we apply across all our work.
No Diversion from Africa
This investment does not represent a shift in EfD's core focus. Our primary commitment remains supporting sustainable healthcare and agri-businesses in Africa. Our participation in REIF was made possible through additional resources specifically designated for this purpose, ensuring no diversion of funds from our African portfolio.
Learning for Greater Impact
We view this as an investment not only in UK social enterprises but in our own learning—lessons that may ultimately benefit the communities we serve in Africa. Early indications are promising, with Resonance having made over 123 investments through their earlier funds.
Key lessons we hope to extract and share through our Knowledge Centre include:
- Blended finance structuring – how to effectively combine grants, guarantees, and tax incentives to create affordable capital
- Flexible product design – tailoring finance to meet diverse social enterprise needs at different stages of development
- Risk management – using guarantees and layered capital structures to mobilize additional investment
- Stakeholder collaboration – working effectively with government, NGOs, and private sector partners
- Impact measurement – tracking social outcomes alongside financial returns
The experience of backing social enterprises addressing poverty and health challenges in a developed economy context may offer valuable insights that could strengthen our approach across sub-Saharan Africa. Models that work to catalyse social finance and de-risk early-stage investments are universally relevant.
Looking Ahead
We believe that effective development finance models can transcend geography—and that we have an obligation to learn from and contribute to innovative approaches to poverty alleviation and health advancement wherever they occur.
We look forward to working with Resonance, our fellow investors, and the social enterprises this fund will support. Together, we are demonstrating that patient, flexible capital—structured appropriately—can generate both meaningful social impact and sustainable financial returns.