Allia’s latest round of charitable bonds has raised £1.8m, releasing £250,000 of grant funding to a range of charitable causes, including employment charity Tomorrow’s People, which has received £41,000.

This issue takes Allia to a total of £17.8m of investment now raised through its bonds.

The £41,000 in grant funding to Tomorrow’s People is the result of investments by East Sussex County council, individual supporters and investment from Tomorrow’s People’s own reserves.

Baroness Stedman-Scott, chief executive of Tomorrow’s People, said:

“The challenge to charities like Tomorrow’s People to raise the funds to deal with fundamental social issues is as great as it has ever been. Tomorrow’s People, being true to its colours, has sought to find innovative ways to bring in the funding needed to continue to make a difference."

The biggest investor in the latest round  of charitable bonds was Abcam, a producer and distributor of research-grade antibodies in Cambridge. Abcam’s investment of £1m will give it a return of £77,500 on maturity while releasing up-front funding for a new social and environmental enterprise centre in Cambridge.

Abcam’s chief executive, Jonathan Milner, said:
“Abcam is delighted to support the new centre via a charitable bond – it’s an excellent mechanism for attracting funds from companies in that on maturity the initial sum is returned along with interest. We wish the new centre every success.”

The next round of charitable bonds will be opening shortly and more charities are being invited to register on Allia’s website to raise funds through the bonds. Tim Jones, chief executive of Allia, said:

“Our mission is to help more great causes raise more funding and give more people a better future. At a time when funding is so often squeezed, the charitable bond allows a charity’s supporters to give more than they can afford to give away.”

Allia started in 1999 as Citylife and developed its charitable bond mechanism to raise funds through a series of campaigns for projects addressing unemployment and disadvantage around the UK. In 2010 it rebranded as Allia and created an online fundraising platform to allow other charities to raise additional funding through its bonds.