Alistair Davis

According to its latest Social Impact Report, SIS invested £4.36 million in social enterprises and communities between April 2019 and March 2020, with the remainder invested in supporting the growing sector of responsible lenders and in mission-driven businesses.

Active loans and investments with SIS during 2019/10 totalled more than £28 million across its 175 social enterprises.

SIS reported that more than 1.4 million people benefited either directly or indirectly from the activities of SIS, up by 1.1 million on the previous year.

It also published figures highlighting its support for Scotland’s social enterprises during the height of lockdown, between 1 April and the end of June. During that time, SIS provided 800 support interventions for people and organisations.

It approved £2.52 million in funding through the Third Sector Resilience Fund, and supported 20 of Scotland’s Credit Unions through the Credit Union Resilience Fund.

SIS also scaled up its market-building activity during 2019/20, designing and managing 7 support initiatives, including the Retail Academy, and 64 workshops, webinars and masterclasses to help communities and social enterprises develop capacity, confidence, and resilience.

SIS chief executive, Alastair Davis, said: “Over the past 15 months, demand for both finance and support has never been greater among third sector organisations and social enterprises. Like most other sectors within our economy, our customers have found themselves facing considerable challenges during the pandemic to keep their heads above water.

“However, despite these impacts which are still ongoing, the role of community and social enterprises in responding to the challenges posed by COVID-19 has been nothing short of extraordinary.

“Working with our numerous partners, SIS is now focused on supporting these individuals, organisations and businesses through a recovery period so they can play a vital role in building an impact economy in Scotland, where positive impacts for people and planet come first.”

The full report can be found here.