BUSINESSES, charities and individuals across Gwynedd are being encouraged to move their savings to an ethical bank.

Charity Bank’s Follow the Money campaign is calling on businesses, charities and individuals to question how their savings are currently being used.

It’s asking them to consider whether their money could go beyond simply earning a fair return and be channelled into the social sector to help create lasting social change.

The campaign will see Gwesty Seren Hotel in Llan Ffestiniog and 37 other charities and social enterprises - who have all received loans from Charity Bank - open their doors to showcase how money saved with an ethical provider can have a positive impact on society.

Launched a decade after the global financial crisis, it aims to highlight a different approach to banking and how by saving with an ethical bank, people and organisations can transform their money into a powerful force for good.

It comes as research published by Charity Bank reveals that 66 per cent of people in Wales think that charities should invest their savings and investments ethically and 53 per cent prefer to buy from businesses that act ethically.

Gwesty Seren Hotel, which offers fully-accessible hotel accommodation and activities for people with a disability, received two loans from Charity Bank to assist with the purchase and renovation of the hotel.

This is just one example of how ethical savings can be used to make loan finance available to organisations delivering positive impact to people and communities.

Dafydd Jones, business consultant at Gwesty Seren Hotel, which is a subsidiary of the Seren Ffestiniog Cyf charity group, said: “The group wanted to design a hotel that could properly cater to people with a disability. With the help of grants and two Charity Bank loans, we were able to purchase a former care home and completely renovate it. Gwesty Seren opened in April 2014 as a three-star, 10-bedroom hotel and restaurant.

“The hotel intake has steadily increased since opening. We had 82 per cent occupancy in July 2018 and are aiming for 100 per cent occupancy in peak season. We have, on average, 4,000 people staying with us each year now and many more eating at the restaurant. We’re also exploring new avenues for building our revenue base to ensure long-term sustainability and maximise our impact on both the local and wider communities.

“As a social enterprise, we would have struggled to get the funding we needed from a high-street bank, even though it wasn’t a risky project. Thankfully, Charity Bank understand charities and social enterprises. They listened to us and we’ve had a good relationship with them from day one. As with any new business, the first couple of years were quite hard for us, but Charity Bank team were very supportive. It was important to us to have a real person we could talk to and Charity Bank gave us that. If we ever needed another loan, they’d be our first port-of-call.”

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