Bridging Loans
Start Your Grant-Funded Project Now
A Clann Credo bridging loan is short-term finance that lets community organisations start and complete grant-funded projects before the grant is paid. You draw down the loan, pay your contractors and suppliers, and repay it when your grant arrives. It’s that simple.
Bridging Loan at a glance
- Loan amount: up to €800,000
- Term: up to 12 months
- Interest rate: 7.45% fixed
- Arrangement fee: up to 1%
- Repaid: when your grant or VAT refund is received
- For: community groups, sports clubs, charities and social enterprises with approved grant funding
What is a bridging loan?
Here’s a reality every community group knows. You’ve been awarded a grant, but the money only arrives after the work is finished, or in stages as you submit receipts. Meanwhile, contractors need paying, materials need buying and the project needs to keep moving.
A bridging loan fills that gap. It turns approved grant funding into real progress on the ground, so your project starts when you’re ready, not when the cheque clears.
We regularly provide bridging finance alongside grants such as LEADER, the Community Sports Facilities Fund, the Community Recognition Fund, Town and Village Renewal, SEAI energy grants, Fáilte Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and local authority funding. We can also bridge VAT refunds on capital projects.
How a Clann Credo bridging loan works
- Talk to us early. Ideally before you apply for your grant, so you can plan your cash flow with confidence.
- Secure your grant approval. Once your grant is approved, we put your bridging loan in place.
- Draw down and get started. Pay contractors and suppliers as the work progresses.
- Deliver and claim. Complete the work, submit your receipts and claim your grant.
- Repay when the grant arrives. The grant payment clears the loan. Job done.
When to use a bridging loan
- Your grant has been approved but will be paid retrospectively or in stages.
- You need to start quickly to hold your contractor, meet a deadline or catch a construction window.
- You want to avoid delays that could push up costs or put your grant at risk.
- You are waiting on a VAT refund for a completed capital project.
- You want a lending partner who understands how grant-funded community projects work.
Bridging loan rates and terms
Information correct at time of publication, July 2026.
New or emerging organisation? Our Acorn Loan offers bridging finance for up to 24 months at a reduced 5% rate, with no arrangement fee and no guarantees required.
Bridging loans in action
Huntstown Family Resource Centre, Dublin 15
For 25 years, Huntstown Family Resource Centre has kept its doors open to more than 5,000 people a year. In 2025, its roof needed a full renovation, including 35 new skylights. Fingal County Council’s Community Recognition Fund covered 100% of the cost, but the grant was payable retrospectively.
Clann Credo provided an unsecured bridging loan so contractors could start immediately. Once the grant is received, the loan is repaid in full. The centre protected an essential community building without a day’s delay.
“Clann Credo made the money side simple — we had the grant, we just needed the timing to work, and they sorted that without any fuss.”
Chris Sullivan, Manager, Huntstown Family Resource Centre
View Case Study
CO:WORX Edgeworthstown Enterprise Hub, Co. Longford
A shuttered bank became Longford’s first digital hub, funded by a jigsaw of LEADER, Enterprise Ireland, Town and Village Renewal and the group’s own funds. Much of it was payable in arrears. Clann Credo’s bridging finance let the build proceed, and when costs moved, a term loan closed the gap. The hub opened in April 2022, on time and within budget, and went on to become a national winner at the European Enterprise Promotion Awards.
“We’re volunteers who happen to know our way around a balance sheet, and even we found grant timing challenging. You’ve signed a fixed-price contract and the money is months away. Clann Credo understood the finance piece.”
Hugh Quinn, Chairman, Edgeworthstown Enterprise Hub CLG
View Case StudyNeed more than a bridge?
Grants rarely cover the full cost of a project. Many organisations combine a bridging loan with a Term Loan to cover both the timing gap and the funding gap in one plan. Neptune Basketball Club, CO:WORX and Inishowen Maritime Museum all used this combination in 2025 to deliver their full ambition.
Bridging finance and the Dynamic Funding Model
Our Dynamic Funding Model brings together four pillars: grant aid, impact lending, philanthropy and earned income. Grant aid often provides the starting point. Bridging finance is the impact lending that unlocks it, so the grant you’ve worked hard to win turns into progress straight away. View More
FAQs
A bridging loan is short-term finance that covers project costs while you wait for approved grant funding to be paid. Clann Credo bridging loans are designed specifically for community groups, sports clubs, charities and social enterprises in Ireland.
We bridge grants from public bodies and funding programmes, including LEADER, the Community Sports Facilities Fund, the Community Recognition Fund, Town and Village Renewal, SEAI, Fáilte Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and local authority grants. We can also bridge VAT refunds on capital projects.
As early as possible, ideally before you submit your grant application. Planning your bridging finance early helps you budget realistically, show funders a credible plan and move quickly once your grant is approved.
Clann Credo bridging loans run for up to 12 months. Acorn bridging loans for new and emerging organisations run for up to 24 months.
Our bridging loan has a fixed interest rate of 7.45% and an arrangement fee of up to 1%. The Acorn bridging loan has a reduced rate of 5% and no arrangement fee depending on your communities eligibility to apply for the Acorn Loan. Rates are correct as of July 2026.
No. Clann Credo lends to organisations, and our bridging loans do not require personal guarantees from committee members or volunteers.
Combine your bridging loan with a Clann Credo term loan. The bridging loan covers the timing gap until the grant is paid; the term loan covers the balance over up to 15 years.
Loan Calculator
About Clann Credo
We’re Clann Credo. Leaders in impact lending in Ireland. Driven to accelerate positive impact across every community. Clann Credo provides fair and flexible impact lending and makes it accessible and easy for every community. Since 1996, we have provided over €218 million in loan finance to more than 2,000 community and voluntary organisations across Ireland. Clann Credo – leading a new pathway for community impact in Ireland since 1996.
Clann Credo – Community Loan Finance is a company limited by guarantee. CRO No: 253147 | Registered with the Charities Regulator, No: 20041076 | CHY No: 13308.
