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Happy New Year to all our subscribers! 🎉

2024 was a blockbuster year for Good Finance, with some key highlights including… 

🤑Show me the money: 25,000+ users browsing our investor directory 
🎓Thirsty for knowledge: 120+ e-learning graduates 
🧐Delving deeper:i15+ case studies published 

….and a whopping 140,000+ unique website users! 🤯

With ambitious plans for 2025 already in progress (keep your eyes peeled across our channels over the next few weeks) we can’t wait for what’s to come in 2025. 

 This newsletter features some social investment related opportunities to add to your bucket list for this year, along with some of the fantastic new case studies, videos, news and views you may have missed from the end of last year. 

Introducing our next SPOTLIGHT 

Case Study! 

Blackburne House

Blackburne House is a Liverpool-based charity and CIC that supports the development of local - and often vulnerable - women. With a core focus on education, they offer a range of nationally-recognised courses and qualifications to women - particularly in sectors in which women are still under-represented.  

This case study features a fantastic video to give you the full picture on Blackburne House and why they sought social investment in the first place.

The video also covers why social investment was the answer to their ambitions for growth, what the application process was like and what their relationship is like with their social investor. 

"This funding has allowed us to scale our work in a way that is both impactful and sustainable. It ensures we can deliver on our promise of supporting women, especially those facing the greatest barriers, to achieve their full potential. With this support, we are not just running programmes - we are transforming lives.”

Click the button below to read the full case study and watch the video, including an exclusive interview with CEO Andrea Rushton and social investor, Michael Strong.  

New Blog

International Volunteers Day: The vital role volunteers play in community businesses

Towards the end of last year, we celebrated International Volunteers Day with our partners at Plunkett to celebrate the army of people who freely give their time and skills to support community businesses, charities and social enterprises across the UK.

In this blog, Andrew Dubock, Communications Manager at Plunkett UK, shines a light on the important part that volunteers play in raising the funds to get a community ownership project off the ground.

Featuring two real life success stories and a host of tips and advice from the businesses themselves, this blog is a must-read for anyone looking to harness the power of volunteering in their organisation for 2025 and beyond. 

Stay connected with us 

Blue skies ahead! 

There’s a number of things we’d like to leave in 2024, and X (formerly Twitter) is one of them. 

Just before the festive break, we announced that we’d be pausing activity on that account due to the questionable leadership and the platform no longer aligning with our values. Rest-assured, we haven’t changed our minds. 

Here's a quick reminder of where you can stay connected and updated with all the latest from Good Finance... 

BlueSky - we joined the millions of users signing up to this platform last year and we're loving it so far! Follow us on @GoodFinanceUK for the latest news and views. 

Instagram - follow us on @GoodFinanceUK to like our posts! More high-quality content (like this reel) coming in 2025! 

LinkedIn - the platform that really had its moment in 2024 and we couldn't be happier for it. Follow us on Good Finance UK for longer, more detailed posts and to help share our news with your network!

Social Impact Investors Group (SIIG)

Market information days for those seeking investment! 

SIIG runs Market Information Days 3-4 times annually to raise awareness about social impact investment opportunities from charities, social enterprises, social purpose organisations and social impact funds. 

All ACF’s members are invited to the in-person sessions usually held in Central London. The events usually run 11am – 2.30pm. 

If you are seeking social investment for your idea and are interested in presenting at a Market Information Day, learn more about this opportunity and how to get involved via this information sheet. 

Social investment in action

Two new case studies from organisations in Wales (translation available)

Accreditation for Social Investment Unpicked

Social Investment Unpicked is now CPD Certified!  

ICYMI (in case you missed it) – our first ever e-Learning programme on the basics of social investment is now CPD certified! 

We are over the moon that graduates of this course completing in 2025 will be able to gain this certification and hope that it will encourage even more of you to come and learn more about social investment. 

As a reminder, we usually run four cohorts per year, with each cohort lasting around 10 weeks. The course is cohort-led, giving you a chance to network and collaborate with like-minded professionals in the sector and typically requires 10-12 hours of your time for webinars, drop-in sessions and the online, self-led aspect of the course. 

For an exclusive chance for our subscribers to join our first ever CPD cohort – register for your (free) place now via the button below to join the next cohort for starting Tuesday 28 January.  

And In Other News...

That's a wrap for now, but we'll be back at the end of January with all the latest updates and opportunities. 

Best wishes, 

Team Good Finance