A bank that specialises in supporting charities and social enterprises is moving to a bigger head office in Tonbridge.

Charity bank, which has had its headquarters in the town since 2005, is moving from 194 and 190 High Street to number 182, which is more than double the size.

Employees at the bank have increased by 14% over the past year to January and it now employs 44 of its 56 employees in Tonbridge. The new office will open on Monday, March 9.

Patrick Crawford, chief executive officer, said: “Our goal is to more than triple our lending to social sector organisations across the country to around £250 million over the next five years and we’re increasing the size of our team to help us achieve this.”

Charity Bank offers loans to charities and other organisations that have a social purpose using the money put in by its savers.

The loans help organisations buy property, develop social housing or community facilities and fund social projects.

When an organisation pays back its loan, the money is used to lend to another organisation working to benefit society.