No. Pathway Fund is a wholesaler, which means we fund intermediary organisations who then deploy capital into frontline charities and social enterprises. If you are a frontline organisation, you may benefit from the programme through one of our funded intermediaries.

BEM-led means that at least 51% of both the Board and Senior Leadership of your organisation are from Black or Ethnically Minoritised communities. If your organisation is not BEM-led, you can apply in partnership with one that is.

Asset-locked means the organisation's assets are permanently committed to social purposes and cannot be distributed as private profit. Registered charities are automatically asset-locked. CICs and other structures may have asset locks written into their governing documents.

Your intermediary organisation can be based anywhere in the UK, but the enterprises you fund must be based in England. The Dormant Assets allocation for this programme covers England only.

At a singular programme/ product level we will be monitoring financial and non-financial metrics; such as which and how many BEM-led charities and social enterprises are supported, how much funding has been deployed, (in case of repayable finance) tracking repayment, the location of the enterprises (whether they are located in/ working in areas with multiple deprivations), what are the impact areas the investees are focused on etc. We will also be monitoring the non-financial/ capacity building support received by the enterprises and how that has supported their growth. One specific area we will be tracking, as per the mandate of this tranche of Dormant Assets deployment, is the amount of funding deployed to deliver youth outcomes.

The ultimate success factor for us will be on if/ how enterprises graduate from an early stage grant funding to becoming sustainable and resilient enterprises and successfully raising social investments. This can only be realised in mid- to long-term and shall require multiple interventions with the intermediaries and other stakeholders in the sector.

We will open call for London & the South East – within this geography intermediaries are welcome to develop programmes that cover specific pockets or wider geographies, including the entire region. Intermediaries submitting proposals focused on pan-London or specific boroughs/ places will need to demonstrate their pipeline and support capacity in the areas/ places covered in their proposals. All proposals that focus on London (either specific boroughs or pan-London or the entire region) will be reviewed within the scope of the same pot of London & the South East focused funding. Similar expectations apply to other regions as well; intermediaries applying for other regional funding may also choose to focus on the entire region or on specific places in the respective region.

Match funding can include both capital deployment to enterprises and delivery cost for intermediaries; however, it is specific to the programme or investment product being delivered and it must be additional in nature ie, beyond business as usual. So although operational cost to deliver the programme can be covered by a co-funder and would count as match-funding, it is vital that the cost cover is in service of delivering the specific programme/ investment product and is additional in nature.

The number of match funders depends on the design of the intervention and the risk appetite of the different funders involved. For example in a blended finance vehicle it is highly likely that there will be multiple match funders whereas in an enterprise grant programme there will likely be a limited number of co-funders. Furthermore, the intermediary’s administrative function may also impact the number of match funders from a practical perspective, especially if there are varied reporting and monitoring requirements from each match-funder.

Pathway is encouraging partnerships in scenarios where the different partners in the programme can be complementary to one another; and vitally in scenarios where partnerships can strengthen the infrastructure and capacities of BEM-led intermediary organisations. As such in assessing the proposal, Pathway shall review the organisations forming the partnership, their complementarity, how they strengthen each other and the partnership as a whole, in alignment with our eligibility and assessment criteria. In scenarios where one or multiple delivery partners are for-profit organisations then there may be further diligence to assess any potential undue private benefit; however, for-profit organisations are not restricted from applying as intermediaries or joining as partners in the application.

We appreciate that in order to move the dial we need public and private capital to invest in the social economy with a racial equity lens and therefore there aren’t specific restrictions or preferences on types of funders. However, at a very high level, co-funders must have a mission-fit with Pathway and/or the social impact economy as a whole. We would consider the intentionality behind the co-funder’s involvement – for example whether it is from the perspective of creating impact or from a marketing/ branding perspective.

An open call for proposals shall be launched in March, detailed timeline will be published along with the call. We expect to make our first funding commitments later in 2026, with conditional approvals by Pathway’s Social Investment Committee expected in summer. Funding commitments can however be conditional and given that the programmes include raising co-finance, the programme start dates will also depend on successfully meeting the conditions and raising co-finance. Start/ end date of the programmes are not prescribed by Pathway.

Yes. We offer information sessions (group) and office hours (one-to-one) where you can ask questions and get guidance. See the Information Sessions page for upcoming dates.

For technical support with the application portal, email impact@pathwayfund.org.uk. We aim to respond within 4 working hours during the application window.

Yes. You can start, close, and then return later and your answers will still be there. The only requirement is that you use the same browser and device (and not be in Incognito or Private browsing mode). Please note that because progress is saved to your specific device, different team members cannot collaborate on the same draft from multiple locations.

Your answers will be kept safely in your browser's local storage, for 15 days. When you open the typeform again, you will be taken to the start of the form, but will see your existing answers from your last visit. You can edit those answers and fill out the rest of the questions before submitting. To ensure no data is lost and to meet our due diligence requirements, we strongly recommend drafting your responses and financial data offline before entering them into this portal.

All applicants must upload: a budget/financial model (Excel), a budget forecast for the next 12+ months, the last 2-3 years of accounts, latest management accounts,  profiles of key persons and key policies. Maximum file size is 50MB per document.

You will receive updates on your application status via email within 10 days of submitting your application

There is no fixed minimum or maximum. The indicative regional allocation is approximately £1m per region, with £1.5m for the national pot. Your request should be proportionate to your pipeline and delivery capacity.

Not for an initial proposal. For detailed proposals, we look for evidence of co-funding intent — this can range from initial discussions with potential co-investors through to confirmed commitments. We assess the quality and credibility of your co-funding strategy, not just whether letters are signed.

Yes. You can select multiple product types in your application if your proposal involves a mix of enterprise grants and blended finance, for example.

These will depend on the proposals we receive and the recommendations of our Social Investment Committee (SIC) who will be reviewing the proposals from a portfolio lens. The decisions will depend on the strengths and impact values of the proposals under consideration by the SIC.

Not prescribed by Pathway – depends on the programme/ investment product design.

Beyond funding deployed into frontline organisations, IMOs can include delivery costs and running costs in their budget. IMO costs should be rational and proportionate. The proportion of Pathway funded IMO cost may also vary due to funding priorities of co-funders; we are open to reviewing such variations with appropriate rationale behind the proposed proportions.