The Triodos Bank has offered a mortgage to purchase the freehold of the Swan in Clewer.

Whereas High Street banks, including their own bankers, were all reluctant to loan to a community organisation, Triodos has said “Yes”. They believe in sustainable banking - supporting projects that benefit people and the planet, and building a more sustainable society. Their website https://www.triodos.co.uk/en/personal/ outlines their values – which are aligned with ours in how we’ll run the Swan. They are a very cool bank.

However, despite our mortgage, our finances are tight. To meet the price the principal drivers have increased their funding commitment, supplemented by the mortgage and your pledged contributions. That still leaves us tight on money to start refurbishment so we can open.

Richard Douglas is overseeing the raising of funds. If you’d like to call him before making your commitment, contact him at ku.oc.rosdniwnawseht@salguod.drahciR. Check out the website: http://www.theswanwindsor.co.uk/ As a reminder the basic terms are:

Share contributions: For each £1,000 contributed you’ll be allocated 1 “B” share in Swan Clewer CIC. In due course you’ll receive a share certificate which will entitle you to dividends as and when they are payable. Although we expect that you can claim Social Investment Tax Relief at 30% on this, we are still awaiting confirmation from HMRC.

Loans: Any amount below £1,000 will be treated as a loan which we’ll repay at twice that value in goods and services from the Swan once we start trading and can afford to do so.

If for any reason the purchase of the Swan doesn’t go ahead for any reason then your payment would be repaid to you by bank transfer to the same account, unless you agree otherwise with Richard Douglas.