Morton Fraser advises SIS on launch of new community fund with Asda
Morton Fraser’s charities and third sector team advised Social Investment Scotland (SIS) on its ground-breaking partnership with supermarket giant Asda to channel proceeds of the new plastic bag charge to social enterprises and community projects in Scotland.
Working with the newly created fund Asda Community Capital, SIS will distribute half the money raised by the 5p levy through low interest rate loans to third sector organisations who would otherwise find it difficult to get access to funding. Loans of between £10,000 and £50,000 will be made available. Interest will not be charged, nor will repayments be demanded, during the first year of the investment and all subsequent interest will be reinvested to support more good causes.
Lauren Scott of top ten Scottish law firm Morton Fraser said:
"The partnership between SIS and Asda Community Capital is a UK first and fits neatly with SIS's ambition of connecting more capital with communities. This has been a fantastic development to have grown out of The Single Use Carrier Bags Charge (Scotland) Regulations and we are delighted to have supported SIS with this project.”
Alastair Davis, CEO, Social Investment Scotland, said:
"SIS is delighted to be working with Asda to deliver this innovative new fund and thank the Morton Fraser team for making this happen. Now that we have established the model, we hope that this may be the first of many new partnerships with corporates as they seek a new approach to corporate social responsibility. ”
While SIS will distribute half the funds, the other half of the funds raised by Asda will be donated to Foundation Scotland to be distributed in small grants of up to £2,000. In the first few months of the plastic bag charge, Asda raised over £145,000.
Notes to Editors
Morton Fraser operates throughout the UK from offices in Edinburgh and Glasgow, employing over 270 people.
The firm offers commercial and private client legal services to businesses, the public sector, families and individuals
Morton Fraser clients include BAA (now Heathrow Airport Holdings), Diageo, Royal Mail Group, The Ministry of Defence, Transport Scotland, Tesco and Scottish Canals.
22 January 2015
Elizabeth Lambley, Indigo, 0131 554 1230 / 07967 374 330
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