As Lis Grant-Wilson of Happy Faces Pre-School puts it, Charity Bank 'saved our bacon'. It came to the rescue when no other bank would consider giving Happy Faces a loan, and thanks to its advance of 45,000, the nursery now occupies new premises in Tonbridge, Kent. 'We were frantic to find a new home when we were booted out of the modular building we occupied at a secondary school,' says Lis. 'We had to find somewhere that was accessible to the children who already attended, because so many working parents relied on us for daycare.'
The only option was to build a new pre-school on a nearby piece of wasteland. Despite help from Kent County Council and raising an impressive 90,000, Happy Faces was still significantly short of the sum it needed to erect a modular building and undertake such fundamental work as laying pipes for water and gas.
Personal approach
'Our auditors suggested that we tried Charity Bank,' says Lis. 'When their representative came to see us he asked a lot of the questions that an ordinary bank would ask, but understood the fact that none of us had great experience with finance. He was also appreciative of the work we were trying to do and its value to the community.'
Roger Ong, Charity Bank relationship manager, says that while the loans it provides have to be commercially viable, it also prides itself on a personal approach to evaluating just how needed the funds may be. 'When we talk to loan applicants we look at their level of experience and how they look after the children,' he says. 'We also look at what added value is being proposed and what the impact would be if we were unable to provide a loan.'
Charity Bank provides loans from 3,000 to 250,000, secured or unsecured, over any period from six months to 20 years. Its service originated from the Charity Aid Foundation. Since officially launching as a bank it has provided a total of 800,000 to 16 pre-schools and playgroups in the UK.
'We identified a very real need to provide help to pre-school organisations which cannot get access to commercial funding because they do not meet the criteria,' says Roger Ong.
At Play Schemes Activities and Recreation for Kids (PARK), in Sheffield, co-ordinator Jacqueline Hinsliffe explains how difficult it can be for early years services to achieve the funding they need. 'When we approached high street banks to provide a loan that would help us to purchase our second premises in Hills- borough, they said they couldn't because we were a charity and if anything went wrong they would attract bad publicity,' she says. 'For us, Charity Bank was the solution. The rate of return on our loan is quite low, so it is a good deal for us.'
The money PARK borrowed went towards purchasing and renovating its sizeable building. It now offers out-of-school hours care in an area of Sheffield where such facilities are few and far between. Expansion has meant that it can accommodate 58 children in each of its twice-daily sessions.
'Our service is going from strength to strength and we are now looking for a third building,' says Jacqueline. 'We will definitely go to Charity Bank if we need to find a loan again.'