David Cameron has today launched the Big Society Capital; an initiative intended to move away from stop-start, hand-to-mouth funding for the voluntary sector.
The £600m investment is hoped to help charities grow in a time when many of the UK's 160,000 charitable organisations are facing financial crisis.
Cameron said:
"This is about providing finance to help society expand. We've seen that voluntary bodies and social enterprises are capable of delivering at scale...This is going to help charities prove their business model and replicate it elsewhere."
The scheme will invest in organisations that lend money to charities and social enterprises. It will be funded with money from unclaimed assets in dormant bank accounts, believed to be worth about £400m over the next four years, and with £200m from four major high-street banks.
