Christmas Message
It gives me great pleasure to send you a quick glimpse of some of the key achievements for the year (2014), including a profile of one of the many great projects supported: First Class Insulation, whose primary objective is to provide employment for Travellers living in Galway.
This year has been a busy but rewarding year. Many goals and milestones have been reached, but none of this would be possible without your continued support and commitment. In 2014, €14.2 million of new lending was approved for 106 new community based projects all over the country.
Looking forward to 2015 we will continue to enhance the assistance we give to projects that deliver a social as well as financial return. We will continue to streamline internal procedures and simultaneously strengthen board oversight. The focus on social dividend will be reaffirmed.
We aim to ensure that every community project which has a social return is aware that social finance is available to help them achieve their dreams.
On your behalf, I want to say a very big thank you to our Investors and the Social Finance Foundation, whose continued assistance is vital in enabling us to help you make a difference.
I also wish to thank the large group of volunteers who give freely of their time and expertise. This group includes not only the members of our board and its key committees but also the hundreds of volunteers throughout the country who work tirelessly for the benefit of their communities.
On behalf of our board and staff I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a peaceful and happy Christmas and best wishes for the New Year.
Paul
Paul O’Sullivan
Chief Executive Officer
Warm Inside
If it didn't already exist, First Class Insulation is precisely the sort of social enterprise that would have to be invented.
Wrapped up in this seemingly innocuous venture is the story of social enterprise write large, the story that bears endless retelling: of enterprise as an agent of positive social change, pulling excluded communities in from the margins and delivering visible gains in people’s daily lives.
Big achievements for an operation established just a few short years ago in 2010 - but not uncommon in the context of the social economy.
First Class Insulation was established by the Galway Travellers’ Movement – itself a coalition of settled and travellers – in order to deliver the type of change and innovation that conventional means did not seem capable of. Equally, the decision to work in the social economy reflects the stark fact that such a venture would have found it virtually impossible to secure funding from traditional sources.
Specialising in all aspects of home insulation – attic, walls, windows – First Class Insulation targets those more likely to suffer fuel poverty to ensure their homes are energy efficient. Apart from developing a more eco-friendly economy on the western seaboard, First Class Insulation ensures work opportunities, experience and skills training for young travellers and others. In a community where the national jobless rate often exceeds 80%, the significance of this initiative cannot be underestimated.
First Class Insulation successfully completed the retrofit of 42 houses on the Aran Islands in 2013 – 95% of whom were fuel poor. This saw the BER rating for the homes raised from G/F to C3 and above. As a result, the company secured a second contract for a further 80 homes on Aran and in Lettermore, Galway. This involved fitting high efficiency heating systems, multi-fuel stoves and a range of insulation upgrades.
Support from Clann Credo support was critical to ensuring First Class Insulation was in a position to complete both contracts.
“I didn’t know what a job was like before I started with First Class Insulation but now this has given me good experience. Important things like being on time, what is expected of you and the pressures that come with the job…. Each person has to do their job and you have to work as a team. The qualifications as well at the end are great”.
Social Impact Investment Pilot Project Advanced
Over the past three years, Clann Credo, has been working with Government on a new and innovative investment asset class known globally as Social Impact Investing (SII). This model allows investors to support projects which seek to alleviate acute social issues such as homelessness or youth recidivism rates. Typically the State or Local Authority pays a fee related to the degree which the intervention is successful. It is an alternative model of investment, which differs from conventional models in that it, seeks to produce both a social and a financial return.
In 2013 the Government announced Ireland’s first Social Impact Investment project, which Clann Credo were subsequently appointed to manage. The project seeks to find suitable, sustainable accommodation for 136 homeless families living in emergency accommodation in the Dublin area. Clann Credo has established, Homelessness Interventions Limited (HIL) as the special purpose vehicle for the project. They have appointed Focus Ireland to undertake the interventions with the families, some of whom have been in inappropriate, private emergency accommodation for up to eight years. The families include over 250 children.
In the initial phase of the project, we can confirm that 75 families have been moved from emergency accommodation, to appropriate, sustainable accommodation. The structure of the initiative is that Dublin City Council will pay HIL for families who remain in new accommodation for more than six months. Trinity College, Centre for Non-Profit Management will independently verify the achievement of outcomes.
HIL is seeking to raise investor loans of €500,000 to fund the working capital needed to finish the project. This working capital will bridge the gap between the payments received from Dublin City Council for success, and the cost of running the project, which are primarily the case workers within Focus Ireland, and the administration, legal and accounting expenses of HIL. Costs have been kept to a minimum, such that the majority of the working capital is used to fund the case workers.
The investor loans are required for one year, and repayment is dependent on the success of the project in finding and placing these families who are experiencing homelessness in sustainable mainstream housing. For example at 85% success, the interest payable will be around 5%. The maximum interest payable is 8%. If success rate falls below 75%, investors will not have all their capital returned.
This pilot project holds really exciting potential for social impacting initiatives in Ireland and we have seen interest in other potential projects such as child protection, education for disadvantaged groups, recidivism rate reduction and healthcare. However, the first step is to show, through this pilot project, that these initiatives can work, and that there are socially minded investors in Ireland to support them.
*See the investment proposal below (PDF) for more details.
The Irish Social Finance Centre (ISFC) completed its refurbishment with the generous support of the Presentation Sisters and a commitment from Clann Credo. The upgrading of the building included the installation of energy efficiencies, with support from SEAI.
This month, Age Action Ireland (a charity which promotes positive ageing and better services for older people) joined Clann Credo as a tenant. 50 Age Action staff will be on site, creating positive “spin-offs” for the local Inchicore communities and businesses.
The IFSC's facilities will be a new venue for Age Action to continue its 'fight against digital exclusion', through its customised training on computers, tablets and smartphones to people over the age of 55.