The Phone Co-op Social Enterprise Start-Up and Expansion Fund

The Phone Co-op Social Enterprise Start-Up and Expansion Fund has been introduced to provide resources to social enterprises, charities or co-operatives to help them at crucial stages of their development.  The Fund will offer support in the form of credit on a charity's or enterprise's Phone Co-op bills, which can then be used to pay for any telecommunication service provided by The Phone Co-op. £10,000 has been initially allocated to the Fund. Applicants can be based anywhere in the UK. Successful social enterprises applying to the Fund will be allocated £250 credit which can be used to purchase the following services provided by the Phone Co-op. These can include: o Fixed line and mobile telephone bills; o Broadband; o Web hosting; and o Telephone systems. There is no stated requirement for match funding. To be eligible for the credit, social enterprises must fit into one of the following categories: o Be new customers of the Phone Co-op; or o Be taking on additional Phone Co-op services as a result of expansion. Successful applicants are expected to commit to using The Phone Co-op's services for a minimum of 2 years. In addition, if the applicant has been advised by a recognised social enterprise business advice agency, such as a Co-operative Development Agency, they will be granted a credit account without having to go through a credit check. The Social Enterprise Start-Up Fund is a rolling programme and applications may be submitted at any time.  For further information about the Fund and how to apply, visitThe Phone Co-op website. Contact details for The Phone Co-op are:  The Phone Co-op 5 The Millhouse Elmsfield Business Centre Worcester Road Chipping Norton Oxon OX7 5XL Tel: 01608 434 070   (An email address is not provided with this scheme.) (Source: GRIN)