Community Benefit Society launches to encourage people to invest in their local area
Melanie May | 8 December 2017 | News
A Community Benefit Society that aims to encourage people across Scotland to reinvest in their communities has launched.
Scottish Communities Finance Ltd’s aim is to help Scotland’s place-based communities and thematic communities to become more viable and vibrant, including through supporting local job creation, regeneration and improved local services. It is looking for communities interested in establishing Community Loan Funds, and will work with these community partners to issue Community Bonds that can be purchased by individuals and organisations. The money raised will be used to establish individual Community Loan Funds, tailored to suit the needs of any particular community.
With its first Community Partner – Scotland’s Social Enterprise Networks – SCF is issuing a Community Bond Prospectus to establish a bespoke Social Enterprise Community Loan Fund.
According to Scottish Communities Finance, the new loan fund will make micro, unsecured and affordable finance available to social enterprises that provide goods and services to communities, often in situations of market failure, where the private sector doesn’t exist.
Pauline Hinchion, Secretary of SCF, said:
“We believe that encouraging ordinary people to reinvest back into their communities – by pooling their financial resources in a community loan fund and lending this out to community businesses and social enterprises – can help make communities more sustainable. Purchasing Community Bonds is about making an investment in your local community. Becoming a Community Investor shows your support for your community and encourages regeneration, local job creation, vibrant local facilities and a diverse economy,”
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.