GCI is delighted to announce that we have secured a first close of £6.25m – and so we can move into a new phase in which we can support organisations to deliver change for our community.
GCI is delighted to announce that we have secured a first close of £6.25m – and so we can move into a new phase in which we can support organisations to deliver change for our community.
Greater Cambridge Impact is a £10 million, ten-year impact investment vehicle focused on improving the lives of people facing the greatest disadvantage.
With capital committed from the outset, we’re focused on scalable societal change.
Why GCI exists
Cambridge is one of the most successful places in the UK. But too many people face persistent barriers in education, housing, health and opportunity. These gaps are systemic and cumulative — and costly to individuals, families, and public services.
At the same time, we’re rich in solutions: innovation isn’t confined to laboratories or venture capital. It lives in communities, voluntary organisations, and frontline services preventing problems before they escalate.
GCI exists to connect solutions with long-term, place-based capital — strengthening what works and enabling prevention at scale.
Alongside The Cambridge Pledge, we aim to turn economic success into shared prosperity - and to demonstrate a model that other places can adapt and replicate.
Who is GCI designed to support?
GCI focuses on groups facing the deepest and most persistent disadvantage - those requiring high levels of co-ordinated support to thrive.
This includes children in care; care-experienced young people; disadvantaged children and young people; families experiencing poverty and crisis; and people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
These groups sit at the intersection of multiple public systems - education, housing, health, social care, and criminal justice - where prevention delivers the greatest human impact and unlocks savings which can be recycled to improve more lives.
In a region defined by growth and opportunity, they are also the people most often left out of the story.
Our partners bring public-sector leadership, philanthropic capital, financial expertise, and local insight to support our mission and long-term approach.
Greater Cambridge Impact was initially catalysed by Cambridge City Council. This support has grown to a coalition of local and national partners:
We’re grateful for the generosity of several organisations that supported us to bring this to life, including Mills&Reeve, PEM, Mishcon de Reya and Trowers & Hamlins.