£446k in loans and plenty still to give out

A CHARITY which supports start-ups and individuals with interest free loans has revealed it provided almost £446,000 of backing last year.

Sir Thomas White Loan Charity, of Leicester, provides interest-free loans of up to £20,000 to businesses or up to £10,000 to students wishing to study at postgraduate level to enhance their career prospects.

It is aimed at people aged 18 to 45 within the city and county and was established in 1542 after a dowry was left to the city of Leicester by benefactor Sir Thomas White.

Although he never set foot in Leicester, Sir Thomas is honoured by being included as one of the four statues around the Clock Tower.

The charity, which runs application windows on a quarterly basis throughout the year, said just short of £290,000 was delivered in the form of 22 interest-free loans to start or grow businesses in 2021.

A further £166,300 was approved in the form of 18 interest-free loans to enable students to return to university and study postgraduate degrees.

Chairman of trustees David Howard said: “As many of us continue to navigate our way beyond the impact Covid-19 had in 2020, it’s been pleasing for all of us at the Sir Thomas White Charity to have been able to support business ventures, in particular as we saw the economy improve throughout 2021.

“It was also pleasing to see how our interest-free loans were able to allow people who lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic, utilise the opportunity to become selfemployed or start a business.

“The fact is the Sir Thomas White Loan Charity wants to help even more people. We have a huge sum of money available to provide in the form of our interest-free loans.”