A report by David Floyd and Dan Gregory (for RBS) – ‘The Forest for the Trees’ – estimates that mainstream banks have around £3bn in outstanding lending to third sector organisations – probably double that of the so called ‘social investment market’. The report challenges social investment specialists to be clearer what specific gaps their publicly supported products are intended to fill. The report recognises the potential of informal peer-to-peer lending within our sector – like the Italian co-operatives above; a field which Senscot and others seek to develop through the Scottish Community Reinvestment Trust (SCRT). See July issue of SCRT bulletin.

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