The business bank as provided more than £143m of funding to 22 community development finance institutions (CDFIs) across the UK.

Unity has committed to award over £250,000 worth of grants to CDFIs by 2030 to provide much-needed capital to organisations delivering positive impact in communities, where mainstream finance has not been available.

The CDFI innovation and transformation (CIT) grants complement Unity’s wider support of the responsible finance sector. Unity’s first CDFI loan of £600,000 was awarded to Glasgow-based DSL Business Finance back in 2001.

Iain Burnside, chief executive at DSL, said: “We were established to address the financial difficulties faced by local businesses and entrepreneurs in Glasgow. When the Glasgow Regeneration Funds were fully dispersed, we approached Unity Trust Bank. Over the past 25 years our relationship with Unity has been built on trust and it continues in that vein today.”

Joshua Meek, chief customer and impact officer at Unity Trust Bank, said: “As a leading UK social impact bank, the sector is directly aligned to our double bottom line mission. 

“Unity’s CIT grants programme aims to provide capacity for CDFIs to explore innovations and transformations that best service their customers. With over 25 years of experience working with CDFIs, we believe this support can deliver outsized impact where it matters.

“The recipients of these grants will be able to strengthen their organisations; delivering more lending and testing innovative and transformational ideas that often aren’t supported through traditional CDFI financing.”

The 2026 CIT grants programme launched on September 14 and eligible CDFIs are invited to apply for one of two grants:

£40,000 for an established impact lender. This is to support a practical innovation, transformation project, service improvement or capability-building activity that helps deliver more impact for customers.
£20,000 to a micro enterprise lender providing loans under £25,000. This is to support investment readiness, evidence-building, market insight and practical preparation for growth opportunities in micro-enterprise lending.

Theodora Hadjimichael, Chief Executive, Responsible Finance, said: “Banks like Unity are important for the sector because they’re mission aligned. What we’ve seen at Unity, which has been hugely transformational, is that they take time get to know CDFIs. They engage with Responsible Finance and they make sure the finance is flexible. Unity has been an incredible partner to work with.

“We are thrilled to see this grant programme launch, and it is especially exciting to see this new funding for micro enterprise lending CDFIs.”

Gareth Thomas, the Labour (Co-op) MP for Harrow West, is the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) and leads legislative efforts to tackle financial exclusion.

He said: “CDFIs play a vital role in getting finance to entrepreneurs and small businesses that too often struggle to access it through mainstream lenders. If we want growth to reach every part of the country, we need a much stronger community finance sector with the backing to match its ambitions.”