We are pleased to announce our first social impact investment into the Women in Safe Homes Fund (WISH), to make our contribution in responding to the high demand for safe and secure homes for women who are at risk of or experiencing homelessness.

The impact, achieved through providing affordable, long-term accommodation for vulnerable women, aligns closely with our objective of addressing local poverty and inequality.

“Without projects like the Women in Safe Homes Fund, women in poverty are likely to remain at risk of violence.” – Nezahat Cihan, Co-Chair of Cripplegate Foundation 

What is the problem? 

There is a chronic shortage of safe, decent and affordable housing for women at risk of and experiencing homelessness. This includes women who have experienced domestic abuse and are in need of a safe place to escape to from their abuser, women who have been released from prison and at increased risk of the cycle of reoffending when they don’t have a safe and stable home to go to; and women – often with children – living in temporary, poor and inappropriate accommodation, struggling to afford housing costs.

What is the WISH fund? 

The Women in Safe Homes fund is a social impact investment property fund co-managed by a joint venture of Patron Capital and Resonance. The fund was launched in December 2020 in response to the high demand for safe and secure homes – due to the chronic lack of suitable housing options available – for women who are at risk of or experiencing homelessness. Using investment from its impact investors, the fund acquires and refurbishes properties – a mix of emergency refuge accommodation and two- and three-bedroom homes – leasing them to its expert, gender-and trauma-informed housing provider partners.

“The provision of quality housing for women who have experienced domestic abuse allows the space and safety to rebuild their lives and access the support they need to thrive, and we are proud to be part of this project.” – Nezahat Cihan, Co-Chair of Cripplegate

What is Cripplegate’s involvement? 

Cripplegate embarked on an ambitious strategy in 2020 to pro-actively invest some of its endowment into social impact investments. It was important for Cripplegate to broaden its investment portfolio so that more of its endowment was invested in more impact driven investments, rather than those aimed at providing a mainly financial return. For this purpose, Cripplegate formed an Asset Sub Committee in early 2021 comprised of Governors and the Director of Finance and Resources aimed at scoping potential investment opportunities that could meet this impact objective whilst still closely aligning with Cripplegate’s charitable objects. Through careful due diligence, the WISH fund was successfully identified as one such opportunity where the impact, achieved through providing affordable, long term accommodation for vulnerable women, aligned closely with Cripplegate’s objective of addressing poverty and inequality in Islington.

Read more about the fund and its partners on the Resonance website.