A non-profit body that provides loan finance for community organisations around Ireland has reported a 29% increase in loans to the sector in 2022.
The €26.6m lent by the Social Finance Foundation to 265 organisations nationwide, represented a "post-Covid bounce" as communities got back to regular activities after the pandemic.
The Foundation is advising community groups that they can now apply for funding of up to €500,000 per group through its partners - Clann Credo and Community Finance Ireland.
Applications are processed within a few weeks.
It says that last year, there was a strong regional focus on the distribution of the €26.6m lent in 2022 which meant areas outside Dublin received a higher allocation of funding relative to their population.
The money is attributed to eight different sectors, with community and sports clubs making up most of the funding.
Last year, €11.5m went to the community and voluntary sector; €10.1m to sport; €1,763m to Arts, Heritage, and Tourism; €1.3m went towards social enterprise and €0.65m to healthcare.
The Blue Teapot Theatre Company in Galway sourced funding through the Social Finance Foundation's lending partner - Clann Credo.
Originally founded in 1996, Blue Teapot has evolved from a community arts project within the Brothers of Charity Services Galway to become an independent theatre company which works to transform theatre practices by telling stories through the lens of disability, to enable inclusive practices to become the norm.
Its Director Petal Pilley said it was a "long-held aim" of the company to secure a permanent cultural home for Blue Teapot.
"Our vision is to be a centre of excellence for Disability Arts in the Western Region, this goal would not have been possible to achieve without the social finance provided through Clan Credo and facilitated by the Social Finance Foundation," she said.
In Dublin, the Betania Church sourced its finance through the Social Finance Foundation's lending partner - Community Finance Ireland.
The church and community facility serves the Romanian Pentecostal community as well as believers from other nationalities.
Its Senior Pastor and CEO Valerian Jurjea said the funding provided the missing piece of the puzzle.
"While the majority of the donations came from our members, it was the support received from Community Finance Ireland that allowed us to complete this magnificent project. Their positive answer was God's open door for our prayers at that specific time and we are eternally grateful for this," he said.
Since its inception in 2007, the Social Finance Foundation has been funded by AIB, Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB and Ulster Bank, firstly by way of a €25m non-repayable grant, followed by €116m in two tranches of loan funding at low interest rates for the combined period 2009 to 2025.
Minister for Finance Michael McGrath has encouraged community groups that might not be aware of social finance loans to "each out and consider it as a way of enhancing the lives of the people they serve."
