“Charity Bank made the loan process as painless as possible”

Kent Wildlife Trust borrowed £1.5 million to part-fund a major refurbishment project. We were also able to award the charity a £62,415 grant. We spoke to Ben Dart, COO at Kent Wildlife Trust to find out more.

Why did you need a loan?

The visitor centre at Sevenoaks Wildlife Reserve was old, tired and really needed a reboot. The centre is the first touch point to Kent Wildlife Trust for a lot of people, and it wasn’t giving the best impression. It also didn’t allow us to showcase our projects. So, we needed to completely refurbish it.

With the refurbishment, we’ll be able to showcase all the work that we’re doing around rewilding, nature restoration, carbon credits and so on. It’s also going to be a great place for us to entertain donors and we’re redeveloping the carpark to make it easier for coach parties, schools etc to visit, given education and outreach is a key part of our strategy towards a Wilder Kent.

We also wanted to be able to make the most of any commercial opportunities through the centre such as conferences and events.

We estimate between 50,000 and 80,000 people currently use the reserve and we’re aiming to at least double that within the next two years.

Why did you choose Charity Bank for your loan?

We didn’t want to go to our bank for the loan; we wanted to work with a lender who has experience with the third sector and who has synergies with what we do. I knew of Charity Bank and I’d met Carolyn, the Director of Lending. She’s also a trustee for the People’s Postcode Lottery Dream Fund, which funded our Bison project in the Blean near Canterbury.

My CEO and I had lunch with Charity Bank’s CEO, Ed Siegel, who was very supportive and actually really excited about what Kent Wildlife Trust is doing.

Charity Bank took the time to get to know us and understand what we’re doing. It’s been a really good fit.

How did you source the rest of the funding for the project?

£250,000 came from Sevenoaks District Council and Charity Bank helped us to secure a green grant of just over £62,000. The rest of the money came from our own funds and fundraising.

Can you tell us about the grant?

Charity Bank offered it to us and did all the leg work, which was fantastic. It’s direct funding for green energy initiatives within the centre, so it’s paying for things like the solar panels, insulation and electric vehicle charging points.

Is there any way Kent Wildlife Trust could have afforded to complete the project without taking out a loan?

Absolutely not. There was no chance we’d have been able to afford it. We tried to fundraise, but unfortunately there is a lot of competition from other projects. Like for all charities, it’s a really difficult time for fundraising. We’re looking at having to diversify the way that we generate income.

Were the trustees onboard from the start, or did they need to be persuaded that borrowing the money was the right thing to do?

They were very supportive. We have a really good set of trustees, and they have a lot of oversight. They went through the due diligence process, saw the need for a redeveloped visitor centre and recognised that it’s good value for money, so they were happy to approve it.

Who were your main contacts at Charity Bank?

Carolyn, first of all. And then Jeremy Ince kind of held our hand through the process. He was really helpful and helped to push the whole thing along. Sue Potter is our day-to-day point of contact now.

We’re about a third of the way through the project and have drawn down a couple of tranches of the loan, which has been really easy and straightforward.

How did you find the process of applying for the loan and getting approval?

I found the whole process really easy and simple. There were a couple of occasions when the team went above and beyond in terms of supporting us to complete – helping us with documentation, getting things lined up for signatures and approval, etc.

Charity Bank make sure you feel comfortable throughout the process. You don’t ever feel like you’re being pushed into something that you don’t want to do, and they’re very open and clear with their answers.

They were upfront at the beginning about how the process would work, timescales for payment, etc. Both sides understood what each other’s requirements were, which made it easier. There were no grey areas and we never felt uncomfortable with what we were entering into.

How did you feel about the timescale?

In October 2024, they were very clear that the loan wouldn’t be signed off until January/February as that’s how long it takes to go through the process, so we knew at the outset that we wouldn’t be able to draw down funds until February. We budgeted cash flow to line up with that, and it worked really well.

Do you think you’ve had a better service than you would have had with a high street lender?

Yes, absolutely, there’s no comparison. Charity Bank’s ethos makes it easy to work with them. Anything that involves detailed scrutiny of an organisation’s finances can be quite painful, but Charity Bank make it as painless as possible.

What would you say to other charities who are thinking about applying for a loan?

It helps to have all your financial information – annual reports, management accounts, cash flow forecast etc – up to date and ready to go, as due diligence is a key part of the process.

Would you recommend Charity Bank as a lender?

Yes. We’re more than happy with Charity Bank and the relationship that we’ve built with them. It’s been as easy as you could hope when you’re borrowing that amount of money. They’ve even been down to the centre a couple of times and taken walks around the reserves.

If you need a loan for your charity or social enterprise, please contact Charity Bank at [email protected].