Big Society Capital has invested another £5m in Charity Bank, following a year in which Charity Bank has approved a record number of new loans.

Charity Bank is one of the oldest social investors, and makes loans to social sector organisations, often to buy property or develop new business. It is wholly owned by charities and other social purpose institutions.

BSC, a £600m independent social wholesaler set up by government to grow the social investment market, bought £5m of shares in the bank in the second stage of an agreed programme which will see it invest £14.5m in total.

Charity Bank said it had seen record growth in the current financial year. It said it has approved £55.8m of new loan approvals in the first nine months of 2016, compared with £34m for the whole of 2015.

George Blunden, chairman of Charity Bank, said: “This investment gives us the capital we need to make loans to more social sector organisations. It provides a strong endorsement of what we do and expresses confidence in our ethos and our future. This injection of capital will enable us to build on our track record of effective and responsible lending to charities and social enterprises.”