01 February 2011

Barclays Community Finance Fund is open. Grants of up to £50,000 are available, from a total fund of £250,000, to support community finance providers in providing affordable credit for people who might otherwise resort to high cost credit or illegal loans. Funding is also available for Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) who wish to offer business loans. The scheme will also run in 2012 and 2013.

The objectives of the fund are to:

• Improve access to affordable credit for people on low incomes and living in areas where there is a need for affordable credit
• Increase existing community finance providers' ability to deliver affordable credit to low income consumers and microenterprises/SMEs which cannot get credit
• Provide financial support to credit unions and CDFIs that are starting up, merging or creating partnerships in areas where there is restricted public access to affordable credit
• Support funded organisations in developing and improving their business services through encouraging voluntary participation by Barclays staff

The deadline for initial applications is 25 March 2011.
For more information see the Transact website here (Transact is delivering the programme).