We are writing to you as a member of SCRT to update you on our progress and how you can assist us going forward. It is four years since SCRT was at a ‘proof of concept’ stage and since then much has been achieved. Therefore we believe that now is a good time to encourage members to get much more involved in the work of SCRT.
A brief summary of our achievements to-date is as follows:
- SCRT now has an FCA registered financial arm (Scottish Community Finance) that allows for the pooling and reinvestment of community financial resources.
- SCF made an initial Community Bond offer, which has lead to the establishment of a new Bridging Loan Fund that is now open to all code compliant social enterprises.
- There is a growing amount of interest in the Community Bond model from other communities across Scotland.
- We have received a strong expression of interest in our work from the Scottish Government and have funding until March 2019.
- Our involvement with OSCR has resulted in new draft investment guidance to charities of all sizes. The consultation on the guidance closes on the 21st September, so I would encourage all members to respond to it.
- We are working with the Social Enterprise Academy to ensure that organisations within the sector have a clear understanding of what social investment means for them. Hopefully you will hear more about that shortly.
- Working with the Big Lottery in Scotland on security for community bond offers.
- We have established a large web based social investment resource on our website, including glossary of terms; library of reports; table of providers etc, all of which are augmented by our monthly ebulletins.