10xRF – 10 days of events, conversation, and inspiration

A series of online events hosted by Responsible Finance

What is the UK financial system’s best kept secret? 

Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs). They are masters of job creation, creating thriving communities, and putting money back in people’s pockets. 

What if part of the solution to a strong recovery is hiding in plain sight? It’s time to change that. 10xRF is the the sector’s biggest event of the year. Ten days of online events, conversation and inspiration. 

Now is the time to unleash the energy of CDFIs to power our recovery from the ground up.

Whether you’ve never heard of a CDFI, you know a little or you’re a CDFI expert – join us! 10xRF includes live Q&A discussions and webinars with a range of experts. All are free (except the CITR webinar) to attend so register today to secure a place.

To register and find further details for each of the individual webinars, please click on each event that you would like to attend below. 

Communities of the future: CDFIs and the transition to net zero

Tuesday 11th May 9:00 - 10:30 am BST 
What will small businesses need as the UK transitions to net zero emissions? How can we ensure that innovation and job creation is at the heart of SMEs’ investment into decarbonisation? What is the role of place-based lenders like CDFIs in ensuring that no community is left behind? Join this panel discussion to hear how government, investors and CDFIs can work together to answer these questions.

Confirmed speakers:
Christine Allison (Chair, SWIG Finance)
Shanika Amarasekara MBE (Chief Impact Officer, British Business Bank)
Nick Robins (LSE Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change)
James Vaccaro (CEO, RePattern and Executive Director, Climate Safe Lending Network

Community Investment Tax Relief (CITR): exploring opportunities for impact investors and professional advisors

Wednesday 12th May 2021 4:00 - 5:00 pm BST

The Community Investment Tax Relief (CITR) is a tax incentive that encourages investment in under-served communities by giving tax relief to corporate and individual investors who invest in accredited CDFIs. In turn, CDFIs make loans to enterprises that operate within or for  disadvantaged communities. Over the past five years the UK’s CDFIs have lent over £1 billion to almost 40,000 borrowers to help create, sustain and grow enterprise in the UK. Like Social Investment Tax Relief (SITR), CITR could be extremely attractive for investors and advisors, and represent a new tool in enabling the sector to raise finance to correct the market failure in SME and social enterprise access to finance.

Co-hosted with Philanthropy Impact, this webinar will explore the benefits to investors from using this relief.

Confirmed Speakers:
Chair: Rennie Hoare (Partner and Head of Philanthropy, C. Hoare & Co.)
James Broderick (Director, Impact Investing Institute)
Steve Deakin (CEO, BCRS Business Loans)
Rosemary Macdonald (CEO, UK Community Foundations)

Embedding social enterprise into the UK’s recovery

Thursday 13th May 2:00 - 3:00 pm BST 

Social enterprises were the community spirit during the Covid-19 pandemic. Now in the recovery they have an equally important role to play. How does government see place-based investors like CDFIs supporting the growth and recovery of communities? Join this discussion with a special advisor to the Prime Minster to find out.

Confirmed speakers :
Alastair Davis (Chief Executive, Social Investment Scotland)
Theodora Hadjimichael (Chief Executive, Responsible Finance)
Alex Hickman (Special Advisor to the Prime Minister)

Marketing and Messaging : Exploring how to speak about what we do with more heart, humour, and impact

Friday 14 May 2021, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm BST 

*RF Members Only 

Get ready to roll up your (metaphoric or actual) sleeves and join this highly interactive workshop exploring how we can talk about what Community Development Finance Institutions do. Let’s discover messages with more heart, humour, and impact, so together we can help more individuals, social enterprises, and businesses.

With Belina Raffy.
 

Community lenders competing with high cost credit

Monday 17 May 2021, 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm BST 

The community lending sector has been given the brief to scale to serve as an alternative to high cost credit for 9 million consumers. What is the path to scale for the sector that makes it a viable alternative? Drawing from lessons across the consumer credit market this panel will explore the role of affordable credit and its scale up journey.

Confirmed speakers :
Faisel Rahman OBE (Managing Director, Fair Finance)
Simon Read (Money Journalist and Broadcaster)
Sacha Romanovitch OBE (CEO, Fair4All Finance)
Alice Tapper (Founder and Author of Go Fund Yourself)
Jason Wassell (Chief Executive, Consumer Credit Trade Association)

Foundation for Partnerships with Local Authorities

Tuesday 18 May 2021, 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm BST

This workshop is for Responsible Finance members and local authorities only. It will explore the foundations for partnership that will improve access to affordable credit for low-income households across the UK.

Co-hosted with the Local Government Association and The Financial Inclusion Centre

Foundations for partnership: workshop with CDFIs and Housing Associations

 Thursday 20 May 2021, 12:30 pm - 2:00 pm BST 

This workshop is for Responsible Finance members and housing associations only.

Co-hosted with Fair4All Finance, it will explore the foundations for partnership that will improve access to affordable credit for low-income households across the UK.