Headingley Investment Fund (HIF) is our very successful financial initiative. HDT had previously raised over £100,000 in 2008 to establish HEART, and early in 2018 we set out to raise funds to support new and existing HDT projects and strengthen our financial position through our second community share offer.
We launched the offer (HIF2018) with the very ambitious target of raising £480,000, and succeeded in raising £481,843 in 3 months from 258 investors; this included £100,000 match funding from the Community Shares Booster Programme. We are very grateful to all of the people who backed the scheme and put money in.
The offer was that investors would see their money put to good use and potentially receive up to 2% interest. The fantastic success shows that many people wanted to see their money used to do something ethical, useful and local.
HIF2018 has been very successful and we have managed to do all three things that we set up to do:
Refinancing HEART – enabling it to do more and operate on a more stable footing.
Pursuing new opportunities – we were able to buy Harris’s fruit and vegetable business and re-open as The Headingley Greengrocer thus ensuring that a valuable local asset was saved for the community. Later, in 2024 we used the last of our HIF2018 funds to buy the freehold of the shop building.
Expanding Headingley Homes – we bought a semi-derelict house on Headingley Mount, removing a local eyesore and transforming it into a desirable home for rent with enhanced energy performance.
Further information:
An annual report for HIF is prepared each year including financial performance information – see HIF Reports
There is an excellent article in the Guardian describing the scheme in 2018 : Headingley launches own investment fund.