Livv and Flourish ‘doing more’ with social investment fund supporting social enterprises

When doing more, means more than words  

What is the dictionary definition of ‘doing more’ for a housing provider rooted in a mission to create positive impact and flourishing communities? 

Livv Housing Group has entitled its 2023-2026 Corporate Plan thus. But it is not just a ‘set title’ on a document. It is the distillation of the 13,000-home organisation's ambition to bring people and neighbourhoods together to create opportunities to grow, develop and thrive. 

When it comes to making social impact at real scale, Livv has strong scores on the doors, with 2023/2024 social accounts detailing £65.5m of social value created. For every £1 spent as a business it generated £11.07 of social value. 

But it is also Livv’s approach to innovating in social investment that pays testimony to its commitment to finding new ways to ‘do more’. It stands proudly pioneering as the only registered housing provider partnering with Access - The Foundation for Social Investment,  to operate a social investment fund open to charities and social enterprises to apply to.  

This is what the definition of ‘doing more’ really means to Livv. Bolstering communities in an even wider way and creating opportunities and new routes for charities and social enterprises to root themselves into their localities with longevity. It is what supports such good causes to grow, to thrive, to really live and flourish to benefit the recipients of each organisation’s raison d'être.  

Unlike traditional investments that prioritise financial returns alone, social investment seeks to generate both a positive social impact and a financial return

That is a natural segue to the name of Livv’s latest social investment fund, Livv and Flourish, launched in 2024 with £4.25m of blended finance available for social enterprises and charities across the Liverpool City Region to apply for over a three-year window.  

It offers a blend of grant and unsecured loan finance of up to £200,000 per application, with tailored support offered to recipients throughout the process from its dedicated team.  

It is part-funded by Access, which ensures that charities and social enterprises can access the finance they need to sustain or grow their impact. It is supported by funds from the Dormant Assets Scheme, which redirects money from forgotten financial products, such as old bank accounts, and puts them to better use where it is not possible to reunite them with their original owners, redirecting the funds in this case to good causes like charities and social enterprises.  

It is equally fair to say that there are some misunderstandings and myths about how social investment works. The Livv and Flourish fund team, investment manager Paula Brown, and business support manager Mike Rivett-Strong want to help ensure charities and social enterprises do not miss out on the potential of ‘opportunity knocking’ due to misinformation and misperception. 

Brown says: “Social organisations often struggle to find funding from traditional sources. Unlike traditional investments that prioritise financial returns alone, social investment seeks to generate both a positive social impact and a financial return.” 

Rivett-Strong adds: “We focus on providing social investment to organisations that benefit the community and contribute to social value. This includes initiatives that address social issues, improve community well-being and create long-lasting impact.” 

As a first step, they are welcoming charities and social enterprises from across the Liverpool City Region to make contact to simply have a conversation as a starting point, to see how the fund could support their organisations, their vision and growth objectives. And then, if it is a right match, to support all the way through the application process and beyond.  

Livv and Flourish is the latest in Livv’s social investment fund portfolio, with over £5.2m of support in loans and grants generating £222m of wellbeing value in the last eight years.  

Some myths about social investment are ‘best busted’ by lived experience. Here, Andrea Rushton, CEO of Blackburne House, shares her charity’s social investment story with Livv. A two-time recipient of its blended finance that has supported the growth of the Liverpool-based education charity that supports the personal development of local, and often vulnerable, women with a range of nationally-recognised courses and qualifications. Both times receiving social investment of £150,000 with blended finance including a £30,000 grant and a £120,000 loan over three years the first time in 2018, and a £20,000 grant and £130,00 loan the second time in 2024.

• Listen to Good Stories episode 5, featuring Blackburne House: The Liverpool social enterprise building on a legacy of education for women

What was your view of social investment at first? 

I did the research on what the investment mix could be for us. I do think commercial lenders can prioritise the profit, or the paying back of the loan, over and above the social impact being made. And that’s something that we’re very proud of here; it’s what we call the ‘And…and’ of what we do, over and above our contracted services. 

I think banks and commercial lenders look at things very differently, and because of the way we’re structured as an organisation, it would have taken a long time to be a likely candidate for their funding.  

In turn, I believe social investors encourage you to innovate, to expand, to develop new income streams through new models, while they support you to grow sustainably. 

What did your decision-making tree look like?

So yes, we did look at all the finance options and many of the social investor options. With social investors, it feels like a more long-term strategic partnership. They’ll work with you, help you navigate challenges, help you with extensions or restructuring of the finance where necessary, and they want you to succeed.  

I see social investment as a tool for strategic growth, unlike commercial lending can be. I think it’s designed for organisations like us; it gives you those structured repayments, that flexibility, and you get a blended model with the combination of loan and grant. The loan is affordable, with a lower interest rate, but the grant element has really supported us, especially with our current investment because we wanted to expand our education function, we utilised the grant element to bolster the IT infrastructure, the marketing piece, the brand, to enable that growth and expansion. 

So I view social investment with Livv as a partnership and a way of really highlighting social value. So yes, a bank or commercial lender wants you to succeed and be able to pay back a loan. But with social investment, I think you’re less at risk of mission drift in returning your payments because it’s about the heart of the social impact being made. With a social investor, you’re entering into a relationship more so than an ‘agreement’, a relationship that is a long-term strategic partnership, so the heartbeat of it all is just different. 

What difference has social investment made to your organisation? 

As a charity, we’re 40 years old. We have a long history and we’re well known, but by Livv investing in us, we could see that they recognised the very real social impact we make on women’s lives, and they wanted us to be able to do, and make, even more. 

We’ve increased our education offer using the most recent investment from the Livv and Flourish fund. That means everything to the client group we support, a client group that would not necessarily thrive with other educational providers, but they will thrive here, so being able to expand and extend our reach has been invaluable. 

For us, this latest £150,000 investment has meant we’ve been able to grow our contract by c.30%, which will create about 150 new learning opportunities for women. That’s real life social impact right there! And the more profit we have, the more we can invest in the education of women and that’s the mission of our organisation, with expanded programmes and offerings, more women will gain more valuable skills in higher areas of demand, it will improve their employability, their earning potential, creating role models which has a positive effect on families.  

There’s a very real ripple effect resulting from this investment. If we’re able to support women in education, you educate a family, you educate a community. The impact is significant. And that’s the ‘and and’ of what we do, the ‘and’ that’s above and beyond the actual education.  

Are potential applicants right to feel cautious about taking social investment? 

I do understand why potential applicants might feel cautious about taking on social investment and yes, it’s right to be so. You don’t want anything that’s going to overburden you as an organisation. That’s the positive thing about working with an investor like Livv, they work with you to create a model that works for you, that improves the sustainability of your organisation and doesn’t negatively impact on it. We did a lot of really robust financial planning, we knew what our revenue streams were going to be and we knew we could go into it without too much worry, because we did the work beforehand. 

Is there an ‘untapped opportunity’ for charities and social enterprises here? 

As a charity and in education, it’s hard and you have no choice but to be creative when it comes to finding investment, because you might not be able to fit all the criteria of other options and commercial lending.  

So yes, I do think social investment is an underused vehicle in the charitable and social enterprise sectors, and it’s worth exploring what it can do for your organisation. It’s a simple process to go through, when you have meaningful support with an investor like Livv. It all starts with a simple conversation to see what’s possible between you and you can see where the potential lies for your organisation, and your growth, with their blended finance investment and their support at your back at every step and stage. 

• Start your social investment conversation by emailing: investment@livvhousinggroup.com  

This special feature has been produced in partnership with Livv Housing Group.

Livv Housing Group is a housing business and more. We provide around 13,000 homes across Liverpool City Region and the North West, plus apprenticeships, training, health and local projects to build flourishing communities. We are positive, respectful partners who take the lead, do what we say and help others to unlock their potential.