Day: 21 November 2024

Investors put £10 billion into a better society as Treasury considers budget cuts

Stuart Mitchell

The UK’s social impact investment market continued to demonstrate stability despite economic uncertainties, growing to £10 billion at the end of 2023, according to the annual assessment by the UK’s leading social impact investor, Better Society Capital (BSC). This represents a 7% increase from £9.4 billion in 2022 and shows stable investor support for initiatives focused on tackling social issues such as reducing child poverty, combatting homelessness and preventing long term health conditions, even in challenging macro and micro economic conditions. This increase comes in the same month as the…

Read More

Making Waves – the campaign for St Andrews

Stuart Mitchell

The University of St Andrews launched its ambitious “Making Waves” campaign to raise £300 million to support scholarships, research, academic programmes, and sustainability initiatives last week (Friday 27 September). The ambitious campaign, which places students at its core, was officially unveiled with a series of events throughout St Andrews, including a torchlight parade through the town (Saturday 28 September). The Making Waves campaign focuses on four key areas: New College, Digital Nexus Building, Scholarships and Bursaries, and Endowed Chairs. Making Waves is a visionary campaign launched at a critical time when the role of universities,…

Read More

Crisis and Mr. Men Little Miss join forces to bring to life the experiences of homelessness in new three-year partnership

Stuart Mitchell

National homelessness charity Crisis has partnered with Mr. Men Little Miss to bring to life the experiences of people facing homelessness by launching two new characters ‘Mr. and Little Miss Invisible’ to help shine a light on the reality of being without a safe home.  The new characters, which have been developed in collaboration with people with lived experience of homelessness and based on their insight of feeling excluded from society, will be launched as part of a limited-edition range of t-shirts with fashion retailer UNIQLO. Additional products will be…

Read More

New multi-million pound National Lottery programme targets communities in greatest need

Stuart Mitchell

The National Lottery Community Fund has recently launched a major new funding programme, ‘Strengthening Communities,’ to support people in greatest need, investing £20 million each year across Northern Ireland. Strengthening Communities is different from previous programmes delivered by The Fund, as it will award grants to projects that focus on preventing problems before they arise and prioritise those experiencing poverty, discrimination and disadvantage. It will also support people to fulfil their potential, be more involved in their communities and improve their lives. Welcoming the announcement of Strengthening Communities a new…

Read More

Octopus Energy electrifies Italy’s rooftop solar sector with new investment

Stuart Mitchell

Octopus Energy’s generation arm electrifies Italy’s solar sector with a new investment to generate more clean, cheap power. Octopus is investing in rooftop solar developer Coralsun, a newly set up business by local entrepreneurs, to help rapidly scale this technology in Italy. Coralsun is set to create 150 MW of new solar projects in the next five years, with an initial focus on the north of Italy. They’re targeting hundreds of energy-hungry commercial and industrial SMEs, such as logistics hubs, manufacturers and warehouses, enabling them to soak up the sunshine…

Read More