Community Growth Scale Up Programme
Do you lead a social enterprise which meets local needs within Greater London? Are you trading effectively, but now need to scale up to the next level?
The Community Growth Scale Up programme is supported by City Bridge Trust, the City of London Corporation’s charity funder, in partnership with the School for Social Entrepreneurs.
There are 10 places available on this programme, which will feature 8 learning days from September 2023 – July 2024. The programme is designed to assist leaders to significantly grow their social enterprise, increase income, resilience and impact. The programme will support leaders to develop new skills and get support from other leaders, plus a Match Trading grant of up to £10,000 which will challenge you to increase your trading.
Who is this programme for?
We are looking for social enterprises that have realistic plans to significantly scale up their social impact to benefit Londoners (i.e., people whose main residence is in one of the 32 boroughs or in the City of London). You may be:
- Looking to move from working “in” to working “on” your project
- Wanting support to lead a growing team
- Developing significant new projects or services
- Extending the geographic reach of your social enterprise by providing services in new areas within Greater London
Information Session
You can find out more about the programme and have the opportunity to ask questions at our information session on Tuesday 6 June at 5pm.
To book your place, please register here.
When and where will the programme be delivered?
| Session 1: Thursday 14 September 2023 | In person venue TBC |
| Session 2: Thursday 12 October 2023 | Online |
| Session 3: Thursday 16 November 2023 | Online |
| 1:1 Action clinics: 17 November 2023 to 17 January 2024 | Online |
| Session 4: Thursday 18 January 2024 | In person venue TBC |
| Session 5: Thursday 22 February 2024 | Online |
| Session 6: Thursday 21 March 2024 | Online |
| 1:1 Action clinics: 22 March to 15 May 2024 | Online |
| Session 7: Thursday 16 May 2024 | In person venue TBC |
| Development Support Panels: June 2024 | Online |
| Session 8: Thursday 18 July 2024 | In person venue TBC |
| Graduation: Thursday 19 September 2024 | In person venue TBC |
How to apply
A downloadable set of application questions can be found here, as well as guidance and space for you to plan your answers and share these with others in your social enterprise, but you will need to apply using the online form, by 12pm on Friday 23 June 2023.
Eligibility
You must be committed to and working towards meeting the City Bridge Trust criteria:
- Your work must mainly benefit Londoners. Londoners are people whose main residence is in one of the 32 boroughs or in the City of London. If your social enterprise is based outside of London, but your work mainly supports people living in London, then we would consider this.
- Trading for the benefit of the local community. Your work must be trading or planning to trade with profits reinvested in the community or to support activity in the community in one or more of the following main themes:
- Children & Young People
- Refugees, migrants and asylum seekers
- Disabled people
- Older people
- Tackling abuse, exploitation and hatred
- Criminal justice
- Mental health services
- Advice and support services
- Improving access to education or employment
- Improving health and wellbeing
- Voice & leadership
- Food poverty
- Greener London
- Access Improvements
- Infrastructure support
Additional eligibility information can be found in our Application Guidance Notes.