Social investment foundation Access has pledged to invest £2.7m in the Charity Bank, with £1.75m of the sum to be used for grant funding for charities and social enterprises.

The rest of the money is comprised of £1m worth share investment in the bank. Charity Bank has said it will leverage this investment from Access with its own funds to create a portfolio of flexible term small loans.

Charity Bank says it aims to increase the diversity of organisations it will support through the funding and specifically target ethnically diverse charities and social enterprises and other groups that have been historically locked out of social investment.

“We’re excited by the immense impact potential we can unlock as we extend our reach to organisations that in the past have been overlooked by traditional lending criteria,” said Charity Bank chief executive Ed Siegel.

“The blended finance programme that we are rolling out as a result of the investment from Access is a key initiative under our updated, impact-led strategy.”

Access chief executive Seb Elsworth added: “We know that charities and social enterprises can often struggle to access mainstream finance.

“The investment made in Charity Bank, through our Flexible Finance programme, will broaden the availability of patient and affordable finance available to charities and social enterprises and will help support Charity Bank itself to develop and grow its offer to organisations that have been excluded from social investment in the past.”

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