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KILDARE: Almost €2m in loans given to local community organisations in 2022

Senan Hogan, 10 Jul

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.