our year in impact
Following this extraordinary year, we've looked back on some of the key pieces of work, best stories and important learning that have stood out for us.
A note from Mark Norbury, CEO of UnLtd
It's too early to tell what change will be driven by this year of lockdowns, global activism and
economic gloom. But we do know that social entrepreneurs have proven their resilience. They have
been on the frontline in communities, supporting the most vulnerable of people. They have shown
that they have a critical role to play in the UK's recovery if we are to create a fairer and
healthier society.
As an organisation, we too have weathered extraordinary change. In March we shifted our staff of 70
to a remote working environment. Over the course of the year we backed 650+ social entrepreneurs,
running over 170 online workshops and giving out over £13 million in funding. We revamped our
application process and brought in a more equitable approach to grant making. Following the
summer's Black Lives Matter protests, we looked hard at our own approach to inclusion and made new
commitments while strengthening others.
Like most in our sector, during 2020 we experienced burnout, isolation, anxiety and everything in
between: but if there is one overriding emotion that describes how we closed out the year it is
pride. Pride in our social entrepreneurs for their resilience and ingenuity. Pride in our staff for
going above and beyond in extraordinary circumstances. Pride in our partners for backing us and
flexing to ensure we could deliver what was needed, and providing the resources to do it. Pride in
the frontline services that have cared for us and our families during this incredibly difficult
year.
We have never been more certain that social entrepreneurs are a cornerstone in a just society. As
we enter another a year of uncertainty, we commit to fighting harder than ever for our sector and
their potential to create the change we so desperately need as we build a more just world.
Of the £13.2M in grants UnLtd distributed, £11.7M specifically supported social entrepreneurs to deal with the effects of COVID on themselves and their communities
UnLtd held over 200 events for social entrepreneurs, including workshops, peer support sessions, and celebrations.
42% of award winners identify as being from Black, Asian, or minority ethnic backgrounds, and/or having a disability.
Cleaning Up
January
Cleaning is often the first thing people do in the new year, and UnLtd started our year
with the story of Radiant Cleaners, graduates of our Thrive
Social Accelerator for 2019.
Radiant Cleaners supports people into work who’ve faced employment barriers such
as experiencing homelessness, addiction, mental health issues, or disabilities.
The work of UnLtd
& Radiant Cleaners was recognised at the 2020 Social Value Awards in the Decent
Work Category.
Gemma Hallet, Chief Mobiliser & CEO of miFuture App.
Kirsty Woodard
January
When social entrepreneurs see a social issue, it’s in their nature to try fix it. The
impact may come straight away, or further down the line.
Social impact
isn’t linear: the honest challenges of being a systems-changer shares Kirsty
Woodard’s experience trying to transform later life for people without the support network
of children.
Social enterprise isn’t easy, and despite having a clear problem and research-backed
solution, Kirsty struggled to find funding. As a systems changer, Kirsty is using these
lessons to inform how she can take this work forward.
Kirsty Woodard, Ageing Well Without Children
£211,406
By creating access to employment at a living wage, Radiant Cleaners creates an estimated social value of £211,406 for the UK per year.
Scaling Up
January
Support Manager Laura Marney shared ‘The
10 pieces of the growth puzzle (and how Thrive can help you put them together)’,
introducing Thrive while also sharing advice on how to prepare for growth and
futureproof your venture’s sustainability.
While many of these tips are best business practice, they’re also elements that social
entrepreneurs don’t have the time and capacity to build into their ventures. Laura shares
the successes of participants in Thrive who’ve used this advice, including Offploy, Evenbreak, and Spiral Skills.
Kirsty Woodard, Ageing Well Without Children
In addition, we launched our next cohort of Thrive: Solutions for an Ageing Society cohort, including ventures based on sport, intergenerational room-sharing, and a co-operative care platform. The ventures are all unique in what they do, and offer solutions for issues such as social isolation, dementia, nutrition, social care, or fitness – all issues which impede the ability of people in later life to stay healthy and active.
In September, we celebrated this cohort’s work with a virtual conference. The cohort included Keiron Sparrowhawk who founded MyCognition to grow cognitive fitness and health, especially for those in later life.
Read more about his app and experience with Thrive here.
£1.8M in early stage funding was awarded
80%+ of our social entrepreneurs felt more valued and understood, and able to act for social change as a result of our support
Our support was rated a 9 out of 10 by 86% of social entrepreneurs
453 social entrepreneurs were supported to start or scale their ventures
We worked with a sample of 5 ventures tackling the disability employment gap, finding that they annually created £19.8M in social and financial value
The ventures sampled in our cost-benefit analysis improved the wellbeing of their users by 15-52%
Our Thrive access to employment social entrepreneurs created just under 5,000 jobs and training opportunities, exceeding their three year goal of 3,000
Our CEO Mark Norbury shared the organisation’s initial thoughts and preparations, including dedicated financial and non-financial support, investment fund repayments and extensions, and advocating for social entrepreneurs in decision-making spheres. We created a resource hub, refreshed daily with government updates, social sector support, relevant funds, and networks to join. We also shared a guide on how to prepare for emergency funding pots.
We later joined 10 sector organisations in writing to the Chancellor to #SaveOurSocEnts. We asked for support to: extend grants to include social entrepreneurs; adjust the delivery of loan finance for social entrepreneurs; offer emergency finances for social enterprises supporting people on behalf of the state; and business support for social entrepreneurs. The Chancellor responded, leading to funding that later became the Inclusive Recovery Fund.
Kevin also outlined how the Chancellor’s Comprehensive Spending Review could include the UK’s social ventures. Our key spending proposals included a ‘match trade’ scheme, improved sector support for new social enterprises, backing for social entrepreneurs to do more in their communities, and the creation of Community Entrepreneurship Zones.
Kevin Armstrong, Policy Lead
Mathu Jeyaloganathan, Head of Investment
Alex Phillips, Support Manager
Alice Oldfield, Senior Researcher
Racial equity was a high priority in SESF, and we set ourselves a 50% target for the grants to go to people from minoritised communities. Head of Investment Mathu Jeyaloganathan shared how UnLtd reached our goal - 52% of our grants went to people identifying as Black, Asian, from a minority ethnic background and/or disabled.
Jane Ryall, Wales Manager
Thank You
We realised that this target wasn’t high or explicit enough.
We also committed to reporting on the proportion of awards made to people aged over 50 in recognition that those in later life have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. We look forward to being held accountable to this target, and welcome feedback on how to remove the barriers to access for these communities. We started an Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging network for staff as well, focussing on the internal, external, and equity audit work.
You can visit the new application at unltd.org.uk/portal
Research found that 1 in 10 UK adults had an idea for a social venture that they hadn’t yet actioned, and the campaign called for MPs to commit to meeting us after the election to untap local solutions to local problems. Through social enterprise Hart Club, we commissioned 8 neuro-diverse artists to create portraits of social entrepreneurs such as Personal Alarm Watch, Find Your Voice, and Bundlee.
The IRF was designed to offer both financial and non-financial expert support for social ventures over the next two years to support them into recovery and long-term resilience. The partnership with Comic Relief was part of £85 million matched funding through the Government’s Community Match Challenge scheme, from a £750 million support package for charities.
The IRF distributed £4.75M in grants to 124 social entrepreneurs, and:
63% of those awarded funding, identify as Black, Asian or from an ethnic minority background and/or are disabled entrepreneurs.
72% of awards went to leaders with lived experience of the issue they are trying to tackle.
1:1 application support sessions were run for the Inclusive Recovery Fund
The impact of the programme included £3.7M generated, and 197 jobs created.
This IRF grant supports their 'Survivors Leadership, Engagement, Advocacy and Development (LEAD)' programme, offering education and leadership development for survivors to contribute lived experience expertise, offer peer support, and find their purpose in life.
Laura Marney, IRF Project Manager
We wanted to use the month to celebrate Black social entrepreneurs and the way they’re currently making history for the UK too.
We’re proud of our award winners - and staff - recognised on the lists, and their contributions to social impact.
the Community (SEIC)
Immy’s SEIC cohort of 11 are focusing on resilient communities, while Alex Smith and the Cares Family have recruited for their programme, called The Multiplier, which you can learn more about in this video.
Alex Smith, The Cares Family Founder
The human stories which drive UnLtd remind me why I am honoured to chair the UnLtd board.
And while it is social entrepreneurs that UnLtd exists to serve, it’s also worth taking a moment to reflect on how the organisation responded to a year which has forever changed the way we work. Staff at UnLtd went to phenomenal lengths to support social entrepreneurs and the sector, in a year where their own professional and personal lives were severely disrupted.
Launching the Social Enterprise Support Fund and the Inclusive Recovery Fund involved coming together, breaking out of job remits, standing up for social entrepreneurs, and changing processes at speed. We made important strides towards equity and inclusivity and learned how much more we have yet to achieve. I look forward to seeing us move even further on the journey to being a fully equitable and anti-racist organisation.
We enter 2021 as an organisation committed to continuous improvement. We have learned much about how to connect across the digital divide; and the importance of networks and community as we collaborated with others across the sector to campaign for the needs of social entrepreneurs.
Community is what drove, enabled, and inspired UnLtd throughout a tumultuous and difficult year, and it is what will continue to be at the heart of the organisation for many years to come. And while social entrepreneurs come from almost every walk of life, they are united by a shared belief that better things are possible and a commitment to make them happen. These are just some of the lessons we hope to take with us as we face the challenges and opportunities of a new year.
Thank you to everybody in the UnLtd community, and welcome to all who are yet to join us.
CMS Centre for Ageing Better City Guilds Comic Relief Cooley Debevoise Plimpton Dechert
Editor
Anny Ma
Art Director
Mai Brightling
Design by Festus Akinsulire
Illustrations by Jaleel Hudson
Production and Digital Management
Tom Sheppard
Thank you to the Head of External Affairs Rosalind Holley, and the wider support of all staff at UnLtd for making this publication possible.
