Offer Extended

We have now raised over £240,000, which is great! Whilst the £100,000 Minimum raise has been exceeded, the terms of the bond offer include that it cannot close until the Santander bank loan has been drawn down. The bond offer will now be extended to 30th April 2017 with a bond allocation to be made as soon as the Santander loan is ready for drawdown (expected by the end of March). Commitments to accrue interest to investors who have placed and paid for their orders prior to previous extensions remain as described in previous updates and the December bond offer document. New investors who have placed and paid for their orders prior to the 10th February will accrue interest from 11th February. Investors who place and/or pay for orders after 10th February will accrue interest from the extended close date.

As mentioned in the revised bond offer document, Gawcott Fields Solar has been in discussions with a social investment fund about providing a junior loan to help bridge the gap between the capital raised from the bond offer and the Santander loan. We are pleased to announce we have now accepted a loan offer from Social and Sustainable Capital for £575,000, subject to satisfactory agreement of legal documentation. This, in addition to surplus revenue accrued, enables the target for the bond raise to be dropped to £500,000. In addition, Social and Sustainable Capital and Power to Change, (a charitable trust set up by Big Lottery Fund) have offered to invest £50 in the bond offer for each £50 raised from people and organisations in the local area, which includes all MK and HP post-codes.

We also recently announced details of how the first year’s community fund will be used. Half the fund will be used to support local sports clubs. The other half will be used to fund a program in the local area to help people struggling with their energy bills. This program will be run by Buckingham and Winslow Citizens Advice in collaboration with the Milton Keynes-based energy charity, the National Energy Foundation.

If you are involved in a local sports club, it would be great to hear from you. We will be developing the arrangements for the application criteria and process over the coming months and want to make sure we get it right. To give feedback and be kept informed, please add your details to our online survey. It should only take a couple of minutes.

So, that’s good news for current investors, good news for prospective investors who have another chance to get involved, and good news for the local community.