Social Finance Foundation - Charting Growth in Latest Annual Report
I have the honour of leading The Social Finance Foundation, a non-profit body established in 2007 by the Government of Ireland, that provides loan finance to hard-pressed community organisations around Ireland.
I invite you to download a copy of our latest Annual Report (2022) here.
We have reported a 29% increase in loans to the sector in 2022. The €26.6 million lent to 265 organisations from all 26 counties represented a post-Covid bounce as communities got back to regular activities after the pandemic. We plan to nearly double social finance lending from €56 million currently to €100 million by 2029.
We are now advising community groups they can apply for funding of up to €500,000 per group through our partners – Clann Credo and Community Finance Ireland. We lend to many different sectors namely Community & Voluntary, Sports, Social Enterprises, Healthcare, Social Care Housing, Childcare, Education and Arts, Heritage & Tourism and Climate/Environment.
Growth Areas
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.
A key feature of the loans we provide 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.
Since our inception through the Government of Ireland in 2007, our not-for-profit organisation has been funded by AIB, Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB and Ulster Bank. The bank funding has enabled the Foundation to lend over €190m to 1,870 organisations since 2007, enabling social organisations to deliver strong social benefits to their local communities.
Earlier this year the Foundation received the first tranche of €20m loan funding from the Council of Europe Development Bank. The Foundation also enjoys the support of the European Investment Fund.