Our new Treasurer, Stewart has been earning his spurs attending a Social Investment Scotland (SIS) virtual seminar the other day. They are a social enterprise and charity offering loan funding and business support for other social enterprises, charities and community groups looking to make a positive impact on people’s lives, society or the environment..
With my Treasurer at Action Porty hat on I was curious to read this and enjoyed watching another Treasurer at work.
While we have no immediate plans to take any loan funding, it is good to know options are out there. Stewart’s take from the session was that ‘loan funding could be part of our funding mix at some stage. He noted that they’re willing to lend for asset purchase purchase, working capital or bridging gaps between grants‘.
He also noted ‘we would have to have some kind of trading history before applying for a loan so probably not an option in the early days and that we’d also need to be clear about our social impact and how that impact is monitored’. Important points to keep in mind as we develop our business model and purpose.
He reported ‘maybe once PTH is reopened, when we have a decent trading record, our thoughts will turn to upgrades / refurbs this might be where a loan might come in’ and closed with ‘of course we might decide that we don’t want to have debt as part of our funding mix and that’s a legitimate position too. It is however clearly an option and SIS would be very happy to have a chat should we want to discuss‘.
Stewart distributed a slide pack sent out by SIS so we know we have that information as an option for future planning.
Jennifer’s blog #55