UK: big boost for Charity Bank

Charity Bank, the UK’s first not for profit bank, is to receive £1million in investment from Barclays Bank. The money will be used by Charity Bank to provide affordable loans to charitable organisations and unlock finance for community and voluntary activity. The Barclays investment is a big boost for Charity Bank, and is the latest success in the bank?s long-term capital raising programme, which aims to attract over £10 million in new investment. Another recent investor in the bank is The Wates Foundation, which has invested £300,000 in the share capital of the Bank. Chief Executive of Charity Bank, Malcolm Hayday, said: ?We are delighted that Barclays recognises the ground-breaking success we have achieved at Charity Bank ? from a start-up project with an initial fund of £500,000 in 1995 to banking authorisation in 2002 and a balance sheet of over £40million today in an emerging market. This investment from Barclays will boost significantly our lending capacity, enabling us to take the bank to the next level by providing financial support to hundreds more charitable organisations across the UK.? See www.charitybank.org