Community and voluntary organisations across Northern Ireland can draw on the best of European expertise and ethical finance solutions to make real change in their local communities. That’s according to Community Finance Ireland’s CEO Dónal Traynor who told FEBEA Conference delegates that his organisation has invested £92 million in community groups on both sides of the border since 2001, with over £50million of that total invested in Northern Ireland.
As the only UK and Ireland member of the European Conference of Ethical and Alternative Banks and Financiers (FEBEA), Community Finance Ireland are co-hosting the annual FEBEA conference in Croke Park today (27.09.24), welcoming members from 33 ethical finance institutions across 15 European countries. It is the first time that the conference has taken place in Ireland.
Mr Traynor, who has more than two decades’ experience in the ethical finance sector, said the money has been used to help a variety of not-for-profit organisations flourish, including faith-based groups, sports clubs, digital hubs and mountain rescue teams. “Traditional lenders find it difficult to provide holistic credit facilities to the diverse community and voluntary sector, and to focus on the benefits of investing in people and communities rather than the bottom line and profit margins,” he said.
“And most senior bankers in the traditional sector would have a few sleepless nights if, like CFI, a quarter of their loan book was unsecured. “However, they would be extremely envious of our default rate which is just below 1% of all loans since we began lending in 2001.
“This is because of the emphasis we place on trust and the strength of the relationships we build with the organisations we work with. We devote a considerable amount of time to building these relationships, the support we provide goes well beyond a figure in a chequebook.”
CFI, he added, was committed to creating “a world-class community finance system that works tirelessly towards ensuring that positive social impact can be made possible in communities on both sides of the border, and as the sole UK and Ireland member of FEBEA, CFI has a unique expertise and insight to pass on to people from Bangor to Belleek. These benefits include insights into the supports available from the EU Commission and a direct line of communication and learnings from our European partners and peers.”
FEBEA Secretary-General Daniel Sorrosal told the gathering that latest figures showed Europe’s ethical lending sector was worth €71 billion. He also said housing was one of the two key challenges facing ethical lenders in Europe at present, with climate change being the other and talked about the creative ways the organisations they support have helped address these challenges.
“In Belgium, our members have helped community organisations to support elderly couples install chair lifts and refit their bathrooms, so they could stay in their homes for longer.
“The loans were for relatively small amounts, but they covered the cost of a number of tweaks which allowed elderly people to stay in their own communities rather than move to a nursing home, thereby improving their quality of life for a minimal cost.
“It is creative solutions like this which ethical financers are well used to providing.”
Ethical finance in action in Northern Ireland
Clanrye Group is a community organisation and registered charity which provides training and qualifications, health & wellbeing services, and employment programmes in Newry, Armagh, Downpatrick and Portadown. The group has availed of support from Community Finance Ireland on two occasions since 2014. In July 2023, they received a £250k six-month bridging loan when a major funder delayed a substantial grant payment.
Liam Devine, Chief Executive at Clanrye Group, took part in a panel discussion on grassroots organisations in action at the FEBEA Conference in Dublin today. He said:
“Community Finance Ireland arranged a six-month bridging loan at very short notice, with team members working from their holiday locations to ensure Clanrye Group could honour our financial commitments. The loan was flexible allowing us to repay early, avoiding unnecessary interest payments.
“The main benefits of working with Community Finance Ireland are the preferential rates they can offer, the speed with which financial facilities can be arranged, the understanding they have of the community and voluntary sector and most of all, that their profits are reinvested back into the sector rather than going to shareholders. That makes us feel we’re giving back too.”
Community Finance Ireland has been a member of FEBEA since 2016.