Together with The Boathouse Studios, we reached the final six of the Social Enterprise UK Deal of the Year Award 2024 recognising our groundbreaking social investment partnership.
Our deal is part of England’s first 100% community-led investment fund, the GROW Fund, which we built with residents in the most underfunded borough in London. It is testament to the power of community participation.
Sponsored by Better Society Capital the Deal of the Year Award goes to an organisation that has been part of a great investment deal in the last 12 months that has helped a social enterprise to grow or the movement as a whole to develop and flourish.
The winning deal was British Land with Impact Hub London, the other nominees were:
- Big Issue Invest/Lightning Reach
- Great Western Credit Union/Fair4All Finance
- Impact Finance Consulting/ARK Resettlement Services
- Arts & Culture Impact Fund/Music Venue Properties
Just the Beginning
The GROW Fund exemplifies a new approach to funding: one rooted in local partnership and resident-led decision-making.
Our model has not only created opportunities for local businesses but also demonstrates how social investment can be a powerful tool for community-led change in places that have been forgotten by traditional forms of funding.
The Boathouse is our very first social investment and it’s just one of many ambitious, community-minded businesses in the borough. We’re already planning more local investments.
Géraud de Ville de Goyet, Chief Executive of BD Giving said:
“Local people have the appetite for social investment and the GROW Fund de-risks investing in Barking and Dagenham.
We’re grateful to the Council for entrusting us with the endowment, which enabled us to create social investment opportunities for local businesses, and to Lankelly Chase for their support of the first year of the GROW Fund.
If future rounds are resourced properly, it can develop the social investment pipeline funders are desperate to see. Together, we can make social investment accessible in a chronically underfunded borough.”
We’re preparing for another round of the GROW Fund in 2025 and we remain committed to creating opportunities for local entrepreneurs and social enterprises to thrive.
Talk to Kate Harmatz about investment opportunities.
Our Social Investment Partnership
The Boathouse Studios, a multi-purpose events space, is the first local enterprise to secure investment from the GROW Fund.
With an investment of £75,000, The Boathouse is enhancing its facilities to increase revenue and balance commercial operations with community projects like children’s ‘stay-and-plays’, free performing arts events and studio space for local artists.
Carole Pluckrose, CEO and Artistic Director of The Boathouse said:
“The investment from BD Giving honestly felt like a partnership—an adult-to-adult relationship, rather than the more parental dynamic you often experience with funders. Their deep understanding of our community brought meaningful questions and challenges that pushed us to grow, while also showing a real interest in our success.
Unlike the arm’s-length approach of many funders, working with BD Giving has been refreshingly collaborative, personal, and grounded in our shared commitment to the borough. That combination of support, accountability, and shared purpose has been both encouraging and confidence-building.”
Find out more about our investment in The Boathouse Studios in our podcast 9 Miles East.
