Sport Impact Fund and Social Impact Bonds?

Last week saw the first Steering Group meeting of the initiative to set up a Sport Impact Fund and create Social Investment Bonds for the Sport Sector.

Andy said "It was a positive meeting with a desire to explore more fully the opportunities and potential pitfalls in setting up such funding streams. I was grateful to the SRA for hosting & helping with logistics! and for the many partners giving up their time to explore this issue"

The meeting took place after I had a series of chance meetings in the summer of 2015 with the RFU, Numbers for Good, the Cabinet Office and DCMS. It seemed there was a real desire in the sector to look at these new funding models, but the capacity to prioritise these just wasn't there. With the launch of the Arts Impact Fund I realised it might just take a little bit of impetus and support to manage the process. So after I came back from my summer holidays full of the mad ideas I always dream up on the beach I thought I better step in and help make this happen. So in August 2015 I helped set up www.sportimpactfund.com & @sportimpactfund to make the case inside the sector and to the DCMS Sports Strategy Consultation.

I then did another series of meetings to see how much support there was in the sector and got overwhelming backing to look at the feasibility and get people together to make it happen.

I knew when I stepped down as Chair of the Sport and Recreation Alliance I would need another BIG project and this seemed a perfect challenge. I like bringing new ideas to life and to challenge old thinking. Certainly impact bonds and impact loans require a different level of skills from sports bodies used to applying for grants.

So far I have managed to secure the backing of Numbers for Good, DCMS, Cabinet Office, Sport England, Sport & Recreation Alliance, Sport Wales, Supporters Direct, FA, RFU, LTA, School of Hard Knocks, StreetGames and the Sports Think Tank. Of course this list is not exhaustive. There will be hundreds of organisations interested in Social Impact funding as the new Sports Strategy comes into play. But we needed a cross section of the sector – from potential investors to potential customers to share their wishes and desires and to be frank – their barriers. If it was easy it would already be happening and established.

At this first stage we have agreed to look at the feasibility and potential market for the Fund and  Sport Impact Bonds. We will be looking at the Arts Impact Fund, some existing Bonds in other sectors as well as the work we are aware is happening in the CSP in Gloucester.

We still have a long way to go. But we would love your support and to sign up to receive news updates via the website or follow us on twitter. (@sportimpactfund ) We would also love to hear from you more importantly!. We need to know about organisations and their experiences and what potential investment funds like these might have in the sector. Remember these are loans (on a favourable basis) that require sports organisations to be contract ready and delivering social impact. They won't be an easy option but they are something we feel will add to the blend of funding available for sport moving forward.

Sport Impact Fund