The Church of England has acquired a 3.6 per cent stake in Charity Bank, after making an equity investment of over £1 million via its social impact arm.

The £1.1million investment from the Church's Social Impact Investment Programme - managed by the Archbishops Council - will help facilitate more than £8.8 million in loans to charities, social enterprises and faith based organisations across the country.

Charity Bank is an ethical bank providing loans to UK charities and social enterprises focused on positive social change.

The Archbishops’ Council said it's delighted that it's investment will help support key UK services and organisations.

“Charities, social enterprises and faith-based organisations provide key services to communities in areas such as housing, social care, food banks, skills development and tackling loneliness. Charity Bank loans are a vital part of the funding landscape for these organisations enabling them to sustain, improve and grow their services. We are delighted that our equity investment will enable Charity Bank to support more of these organisations across the UK,” Vanessa Morphet, Head of Social Impact Investment at the Archbishops’ Council said.

Ed Siegel, CEO at Charity Bank said: “Investment capital is vital to our mission. It underpins our lending activity and enables us to leverage our savers’ money. For every £1m of capital, we can make more than £8m of loans to the charities and social enterprises that are tackling some of the most challenging issues facing UK society today.

“We are very excited about the potential of this partnership, particularly as we seek to grow our activities in the ‘green lending’ space, which is a specific area of interest for the Church, and as we continue to expand our lending to housing and social care providers, Christian charities and other faith based organisations."