P2P Loan Helps Brighter Futures to Establish 19 More Foster Households in the South East

Essex-based Brighter Futures Foster Care has increased the number of new foster households by 19 and the number of child placements in their care by nearly a quarter, from 67 to 83 thanks to a £120k funding injection from peer-to-peer lending platform RateSetter.

Brighter Futures Foster Care works with local authorities in the South East to find appropriate foster families for young people, helping to address the national shortage of 10,000 foster places.

With the help of the additional finance the two founders and principals – Justina Gay and Sali Ann Walker – are hoping to raise the number of placements to 110-120 by approaching more local authorities within reach from the company’s base in Waltham Abbey. Brighter Futures now operates across Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, London, East and West Sussex, as well as Essex.

Justina said: “The pressure is always on to provide more foster homes. We earned a ‘good’ rating from Ofsted last year and we want to protect that status by growing carefully, rather than making a dash for growth and risk dropping our standards. We currently have six people in the fostering pipeline, which exceeds our original target by some margin.”

Commenting on the fund-raising, Justina added: “We did consider talking to our bank, but concluded that the process was too complicated and restrictive. With RateSetter we were able to talk in person to people who genuinely seemed interested in our business, and who understood what our options might be. We were talked through the process at every stage and it was pain-free.”

RateSetter’s own research shows that only a third of the SMEs consulted in the region would approach their own bank for financial advice and that only 39% (less than the national average) are expecting to grow during this year.

RateSetter Regional Manager Donal Vaughan, who handled the Brighter Futures Foster Care fund raising, said: “Brighter Futures took us into a new sector where finance is desperately needed. With its ten-year record, the company is well run, with excellent qualified staff and lots of ideas for the future. We were very happy to help and it is good to see that the additional finance is already being used to good effect. RateSetter is always standing by to support good, ambitious companies which want to expand and improve their service.”