Youth organisation secures loan from Early Intervention fund
Acknowledging Youths has been granted a loan of £5,745 to help them continue key activities with disadvantaged young people.
Acknowledging Youths was set up in 2012 to support young people from disadvantaged backgrounds succeed in the world of work by providing short courses in Maths and English (through ASDAN), and practical skills in interviewing and CV-writing. Acknowledging Youths have found the loan and attached business advisory support useful in the face of the changing sector, as the loan frees up some resource to increase the up-skilling and training work they do.
Danny Barnes, the founder and CEO of Acknowledging Youths, said:
“This loan will enable us to focus on becoming more sustainable and also make us look at ways to reduce our running cost without affecting the services we deliver to the community. The Early Intervention Fund loan will make it possible for us to achieve our aim of helping others to reach their potential and not be held back by a disadvantaged background.”
CAN Invest are pleased that Acknowledging Youths have also been able to take advantage of mentoring support from UBS, from which they’ll receive financial management, organisational strategy and marketing support. This will help Acknowledging Youths to reach their goal of becoming fully sustainable and offer more services to the wider community. CAN Invest are working closely with Acknowledging Youths and believe there is potential for a longer-term relationship and supporting the organisation with contract specific cash-flow finance as future contracts are secured.
The loan is the second investment in 2015 from the Early Intervention Fund, delivered by CAN Invest in partnership with UBS. The fund recently secured match funding from Funding London, which allows organisations to apply for a loan from £5,000 to £100,000. Acknowledging Youths is the first organisation to benefit from the Early Intervention’s geographical extension, which will help organisations in all of the following boroughs: City of London; Hackney; Tower Hamlets; Newham; Waltham Forest; Redbridge; Barking and Dagenham; Havering; Lewisham; Greenwich; Bexley; Hammersmith and Fulham; Ealing; Brent; Enfield and Haringey.
Organisations that are interested in the Early Intervention Fund should apply via the CAN Invest website at: can-invest.org.uk/services/funds-investment/can-early-intervention-fund.
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Notes to editors:
Please note that CAN (formerly known as Community Action Network) is always written with capital letters.
1. The Early Intervention Fund is delivered by CAN Invest in partnership with UBS.
2. CAN is a charity trading as a social enterprise (charity number 1075749). Their activities include:
CAN Mezzanine charity office space currently operates at five locations: four in central London and one in the London Borough of Hounslow, providing office space to more than 140 charities and social enterprises.
CAN Invest accesses and manages funds for investment in social ventures. It also provides social impact measurement services to social ventures, other social finance intermediaries and investors (portfolio).