2012 campaign - introducing lendwithcare

One of the major campaigns we will be supporting this year through Social Action is the fantastic lendwithcare initiative from CARE International UK.

CARE International UK is one of the world's leading aid and development charities. Working in more than 80 countries, CARE's programmes create lasting change in developing regions around the world, with 94p of every £1 donated going to end users. As well as delivering governance, disaster relief and poverty relief programmes, CARE International also supports entrepreneurs in developing economies through its microfinance initiative - and this is where we come in!

How it works:

lendwithcare gives people the chance to support business owners in the developing world through microfinance loans of as little as £15. Supporters can go onto the website and find a business owner to fund. Loans are then repaid by the entrepreneur over a set period of time, allowing for the money to be reinvested, or donated to CARE International.

You can see a full overview here.

What we will do:

We will be fundraising throughout 2012 for our Epsom Social Action group lending account - all funds will go directly to entrepreneurs, and any repayments will be reinvested. At the end of the year, we will donate the balance to CARE International.

How you can help:

There are two ways for you to donate to this fantastic cause:

1. Make a donation to Epsom Social Action (full details here). Feel free to tell us which kind of business you would like to support - we promise to take everyone's ideas into account when choosing entrepreneurs to support.

2. Sign up for a lendwithcare account. Once you start to make payments, just choose to attribute your loans to 'Epsom Social Action', and they will show up on our page.

We hope that you will take the opportunity to support this fantastic scheme. It's a great way to support overseas development (rather than simple aid), as well as the chance to really see where your money is going.

“I love how lendwithcare puts together people who have money and want to see what their money is doing, with people who need their money. I think that’s a magical combination. You get your money back, and that’s good because it means the project has been successful. But really, I think the success can be measured by the change it has left behind.” (Dragon's Den's Deborah Meaden)