A charity that provides support to carers has secured its future in its Bath headquarters as the first beneficiary of a new lending scheme launched by St John's Hospital.
The loan means the Carers’ Centre can buy the Lower Bristol Road building, ending uncertainty after the landlord announced he would be sold. 
Founded in 1996, the Carers’ Centre is the leading provider of free support, advice and breaks away from caring for carers across Bath and North East Somerset. It supports both adult and child carers from aged five upwards and also has a base in Radstock.
Senior development manager Janine Woodward-Grant said: “When we moved into the property we had a three-year lease, but after six months the landlord said he wanted to sell. That meant to secure the building we had to move quickly as we had no finance for a mortgage in place.
“St John’s had just announced the launch of its new Social Investment Programme and it seemed to be the natural path to take – borrowing from another charity who understood how charities and social enterprises work and who would be flexible in terms of the way the loan was structured.
“It means we can now focus on improving and expanding our services to carers rather than worry about finding another building.”
St John’s £4m Social Investment Programme is designed to support growth and development of local charities, social enterprises and charitable organisations with social, cultural and environmental aims.
The loans are from £25,000 upwards and are designed to help organisations working with local people and communities make a step change in the services they provide.
St John’s head of social investment Sue Cooper said: “We’re delighted The Carers’ Centre are the recipients of our first loan; they’re well known locally and we admire their work.
“Giving them the reassurance of a secure future in their own building to deliver more services to carers is just the sort of difference we want and are able to make with our social lending."
“We continue to engage with a wide range of local charities through our Community Grants programme however, for some projects, a different type of finance is needed and social lending enables organisations that are generating income to grow and develop by using a loan that they can repay over a number of years.
“This enables these organisations to become more resilient financially, able to deliver more services and ultimately be more sustainable.”
St John’s Hospital is one of the oldest and largest almshouse charities in the UK, based in Bath and originally established in 1174. It provides almshouse accommodation to 100 residents on sites in central Bath and a purpose built development at Combe Park. The charity has made small grants to individuals in need for many years and to organisations working with people in need in and around Bath. It distributes grants totaling around £750,000 a year.
