Purpose: to invest £500 of excess club funds in granting loans to enterprising women in low-income countries to develop their businesses and assist communities. This was done via the charity Lend With Care.
Commencing in November 2024 we have now given loans totalling £1091.32 to 16 women and currently have £11.68 in our account to reloan. 4 loans have been fully repaid, none have defaulted. We receive loan repayments each month which we use to make further loans. Any new loans I share on WhatsApp.
We try to loan to women who live in a variety of countries and are seeking loans for a variety of reasons:
Cambodia – 2 Farming
Ecuador – Farming
Pakistan – Hairdresser
Paraguay – retail
Philippines – 3 retail
Rwanda – Farming
Thailand – sewing
Togo – retail
Vietnam – sewing, retail and Farming
Zambia – Cafe, retail
Full repayments are never the full amount because of currency fluctuations etc so, for example for a loan of £100 we got £95 repaid.
An example of one of the recent loans was for farming in Cambodia. Saleath was seeking a loan of £2,583.70 to help her reduce the costs of her rice farming by purchasing a walking tractor to plough the rice paddy instead of hiring one. Her repayments will be over 36 months.
If members are interested in personally getting involved and loaning to enterprising women in low income countries look at www.lendwithcare.org