KILDARE: Almost €2m in loans given to local community organisations in 2022
The Social Finance Foundation, a non-profit body that provides loan finance to community organisations around Ireland, has reported €1,917,000 in new loans to community groups in County Kildare in 2022.
When added to pre-existing loans, the total value of Social Finance Foundation loans to community organisations in County Kildare is now €2,273,000. This compares to counties such as Laois (€748,000 new loans/ €1,015,000 total loans), Meath (€536,000/ €1,381,000), Offaly (€933,000/ €1,357,000) and Wicklow (€366,000/ €805,000).
The new loans went to the Community & Voluntary, Educational and Sports sectors and included community organisations such as Straffan Gaelic Football Club, The Acre Project CLG and Ballymore Eustace Community Development Association CLG.
Social Finance Foundation was established in 2007 by the Government of Ireland to address the needs of community organisations and social enterprises for loan funding where it is difficult to obtain from mainstream financial institutions. Acting as a ‘wholesaler’, it provides funding to its lending partners – Clann Credo and Community Finance Ireland. Its motto is – ‘Finance for Social Good’.
Social Finance Foundation is advising community groups in County Kildare that they can apply for funding of up to €500,000 through the Foundation’s partners – Clann Credo and Community Finance Ireland. Applications are processed within a few weeks with personal interaction a key feature of the lending process. This results in a high approval rate for loan applications.
A key feature of loans provided by the Social Finance Foundation is the provision of bridging loans. Community groups are often in receipt of grants which are only paid when the work is completed and hence the importance to have bridging finance for the development which is then repaid when the grant is received. Approximately one third of its loan book is comprised of bridging loans.
Commenting on the trends in the sector, Brendan Whelan (Chief Executive Officer of Social Finance Foundation) said: “Our loan funding is available to nine different sectors namely Community & Voluntary, Sports, Social Enterprises, Healthcare, Social Care Housing, Childcare, Education and Arts, Heritage & Tourism and Climate/Environment.”
He added: “We are seeing a notable increase in applications from the environmental and bio-diversity sector which we are keen to grow as a percentage of our lending. Similarly, we also want to foster more social enterprises in communities.”
About Social Finance Foundation
Social Finance Ireland has an operating model unique to Ireland. It combines the State, acting through the Government and Department of Finance; the Private Sector through the representatives of the participating banks (AIB, Bank of Ireland, permanent tsb and Ulster Bank); the Third Sector through the Social Lending Organisations (Clann Credo and Community Finance Ireland); and the EU through the support of the European Investment Fund and the Council of Europe Development Bank. It is this extensive and interdependent combination of support that has enabled the Foundation to deliver on its mission to facilitate social development through utilising finance and financial expertise.