Northern Rock Foundation and Big Society Capital plan to create a £11.5m social investment fund for the north-east of England.

It will be the first regional fund to be supported by Big Society Capital, which has committed, in principle to invest £4.5m initially in the fund.

The Northern Rock Foundation has committed, in principle to invest £3m. The Foundation will also set up a separate North East Social Investment Company with £1.5m, to champion the development of social investment in the region and oversee the running of the fund.

Subject to completion of negotiations between Big Society Capital and Northern Rock Foundation, the company will be set up early in the New Year and the Fund will be open for lending by mid- 2014.

Elsewhere, the social impact fund, Impact Ventures UK, into which Big Society Capital has invested £10m, has announced its first close.

Impact Ventures UK was launched by LGT Venture Philanthropy in association with Berenberg. Investors include Big Society Capital, London Borough of Waltham Forest Pension Fund and the Golden Bottle Trust.

It has raised a total of £20.8m from investors.

The fund has a broad mandate and will invest in enterprises with business models that target specific areas of impact, ranging from education, housing, employment and skills through to access to finance as well as mental and physical health.