Key Fund

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Key Fund Key Fund is a leading investor in social and community enterprise. We unlock finance and support people making a positive difference. Build one.

Don’t dream of a better world. Growing enterprise in communities: We give loans and grants to people and enterprises that make a big impact, tackling social and environmental issues in their heart of their communities. We operate across the North of England and the Midlands. Visit our website to find out more, and see how we can help you: www.thekeyfund.co.uk

Here’s what some of our clients say…

“Birdcage would not exist if it wasn’t for Key Fund support offering unsecured development loans to a charity with no track record in retail. They ensured we not only had access to money, but the right support, expertise and business plans to enable a small organisation to make the leap to trading.”
Louise Tyne, Organisation Director, Birdcage

“The Key Fund has been instrumental at key strategic points in our development. We started as one thing, but now we deliver many different services through various strands and the Key Fund has provided vital investment at every stage, allowing us to launch these new brands and concepts. Have you ever talked to a bank? There’s almost zero access to finance, especially at first as a new organisation. Even after 11 years of operating, in this current climate there’s no chance of accessing money from mainstream banks, so the Key Fund has been vital to our survival and growth.”
Steven Mundin, Senior Manager, Higher Rhythm

“Having the Key Fund in Yorkshire has helped address disadvantage and discrimination in a practical and lasting way. It stimulates local economies in deprived areas backing projects that mainstream banks just wouldn’t touch. The continued success of ABL and the transformation of Manningham are testament to the spirit of what can be achieved, with the right support and belief.”
Sam Keighley CEO, ABL

“Without the Key Fund support, we’d be finished. They’ve handed us at least two ‘get out of jail’ cards. I can’t praise them enough. It’s not just the financial support but the advice, support and trusting relationship with the staff. We’re a diverse organisation always in tune with what’s happening around us - even more so with the economic uncertainties. We’ve dropped services and bought new ones in to support the people who most need it. I’ve been here over ten years and the connection with the Key Fund has put us where we are today.”
Steve Palmer, Operations Manager, Barnsley Community Build

“Key Fund not only invests, it’s shaping the sector at large. Their impact and leadership is remarkable. They punch well above their weight, thanks to their passion and commitment. They’ve have the vision to adapt to the challenges in our economy, without ever losing their original mission – to help balance inequalities, improving lives of the most disadvantaged in society.”
Ben Hughes, CEO of the CDFA

When Jo Ramsay was a young, single parent, she had no guidance on benefits, no family nearby, and a night job that still...
30/09/2026

When Jo Ramsay was a young, single parent, she had no guidance on benefits, no family nearby, and a night job that still wasn't enough to make ends meet.

Jo said: "I had the bailiffs, I had debts. I was struggling to make ends meet. I couldn't afford to eat. There were no such things as community pantries."

Determined that "nobody should feel how I used to feel – that there was nowhere to turn," Jo trained in social work, then worked and later volunteered at the Cherry Tree Centre – setting up its advice service and becoming manager in 2006.

Established in 1996, Beverley Cherry Tree Community Centre is a registered charity in East Yorkshire, running an OFSTED-inspected pre-school, breakfast, after-school and holiday clubs, a credit union, bingo group, housing project and youth club, supporting 550 individuals facing poverty or financial exclusion each year, and 26,000 across the wider community. 📈

Key Fund has backed the centre with five investments, the first in 2016 when a cash-flow crisis threatened its closure, helping it restructure and secure its future.
Its youth club, also set up in 2016, now supports 90 young people a week aged 10-18 (up to 25 for those with SEND). And, this year it got a brand-new clubhouse, after BBC DIY SOS stepped in.

To read more about Beverley Cherry Tree Community Centre, visit their website: https://ctca.org.uk/

The Property Fund, funded by Better Society Capital and ERDF, supports social enterprises over 1 year old looking to pur...
28/09/2026

The Property Fund, funded by Better Society Capital and ERDF, supports social enterprises over 1 year old looking to purchase or develop properties in the Yorkshire and Humber region. 🏢

To access this fund you will need clear social aims and objectives, and fit one of the following: not for private profit, asset locked, or have clear policies/restrictions around profit distribution.

With investments of up to £300k, a maximum term of 10 years, interest charged at 4.5% flat, and a 1.5% arrangement fee, visit our funding page to explore the right fund option for you: https://thekeyfund.co.uk/funding/property-fund/

21/09/2026

Frustrated by an overly pharmaceutical approach to health, Paul Myers left a career in epigenetics research to focus on prevention – and co-founded Farm Urban with Dr. Jens Thomas. 🌱

The social enterprise grows food that's good for people and the planet, combining a vertical farm (Greens for Good, with 50% of produce donated to food banks), science and tech R&D (FU: Labs), and educational programmes for all ages (Routes and Shoots) – engaging around 27,500 people every year across the North West and beyond.

When major long-term contracts for their new project, The Urban Oasis, fell through unexpectedly, Farm Urban was left financially exposed.

Paul said: "This social investment has saved our organisation because of delayed and volatile public sector projects and contracts. Without Key Fund's money, and other social investors that came on board, we wouldn't be here today; it would have sunk us financially."

Now on track for a £750k turnover, Farm Urban is looking ahead – growing its educational reach nationally and developing new versions of The Urban Oasis. 📈

To read more about Farm Urban, visit their website: https://www.farmurban.co.uk/

Calling all the incredible organisations we work with 📣If volunteers are at the heart of what you do, you could be in li...
15/09/2026

Calling all the incredible organisations we work with 📣

If volunteers are at the heart of what you do, you could be in line for the King's Award for Voluntary Service — the UK's top honour for volunteer-led groups (equivalent to an MBE!).

We know so many of you go above and beyond for your communities, and this is a brilliant way to get that recognised nationally.

Nominations are open now and close 1 December 2026. Have a look and see if it's for you: https://kavs.dcms.gov.uk/

In The MJ, Our CEO, Matt Smith CBE, discussed the importance of local government working in partnership with social inve...
10/09/2026

In The MJ, Our CEO, Matt Smith CBE, discussed the importance of local government working in partnership with social investors to deliver the new Government's place-based growth agenda.

Read the full piece on The MJ website or in print.

https://www.themj.co.uk/backing-growth-locally

Thank you to Pioneers Post for sharing the story of this major new fund in collaboration with the Children UK and Sout...
07/09/2026

Thank you to Pioneers Post for sharing the story of this major new fund in collaboration with the Children UK and South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority.

This project is the result of months of hard work and we're really proud to be part of something with such incredible potential.

As our CEO Matt Smith CBE said, the Dream Big South Yorkshire Fund is "about, fundamentally, how do we get the right money and the right support available to organisations that have aspirations to develop a more sustainable activity.”

Read the full article here: https://www.pioneerspost.com/business-school/20260903/we-want-be-global-how-south-yorkshire-building-blueprint-child-lens?

The Dream Big South Yorkshire Fund unites social finance, local government and one of the world's leading children's charities. We speak to Key Fund and Save the Children to explore their ambitions for this pioneeering pilot.

27/08/2026

After leaving school early and becoming a single parent at 19, Dr Deborah Bullivant MBE went on to found , an arts charity using the power of storytelling to change children's lives.✏️

Based in Rotherham, one of England's most deprived areas, Grimm and Co champions the writer in every child, using writing as a tool to raise self-confidence, aspiration and social engagement among young people.

Facing growing demand and a year-long waiting list, the charity purchased a former Methodist church and transformed it into the National Centre for Folk and Fairy Tales, complete with a café, a book nook and the "Forgotten Library." Now supporting over 4,000 children every year, the charity has grown to a team of 21 staff, 126 volunteers and a 10-person board — and was the catalyst for Rotherham becoming the world's first Children's Capital of Culture.📈

Founder Dr Deborah Bullivant MBE said: "It gave us a lever and it gave us confidence."

Key Fund provided £150,000 to help fit out the charity's new café within the building.

To read more about Grimm and Co, see the client story in our 25-year Impact Report:https://thekeyfund.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Key-Fund-Social-Impact-Report-.pdf

Address

Key Fund, Riverside Works, 9-12 Jessops Riverside, 800 Brightside Lane
Sheffield
S92RY

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+443302020559

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