Alnwick Garden Trust

About Alnwick Garden Trust

Alnwick Garden Trust is a UK registered charity that owns and operates the Alnwick Garden, a major visitor attraction located in Northumberland. Established in the early 2000s, the Trust reinvests its surpluses into its ongoing development and into programmes that deliver social and economic benefits for the local community.

Our work with Alnwick Garden Trust

The Trust approached Allia C&C to raise funding for Lilidorei, a play structure next to the Gardens providing an immersive, story-led environment to encourage children to engage in imaginative, active and co-operative play, which is rare in the digital age. There was a very tight deadline of 3 months to deliver funding in order to secure a matched grant from the government.

Acting as lead manager, Allia C&C coordinated the full process of issuing £18 million of Retail Charity Bonds (RCBs), including structuring the transaction, leading the investor roadshow, and managing bookbuilding among investors seeking opportunities to deploy capital into projects with social impact.

The impact

The Bonds, issued in May 2020, carry a coupon of 5% per annum and mature in 2030. An initial £10 million was raised at launch, with a further £8 million retained for subsequent drawdown.

Following the initial issuance, additional retained bond sales were facilitated by Allia C&C, enabling the Trust to access funding in line with its evolving capital needs.

In total, Allia C&C supported the Trust in raising £12.4m. This financing played a key role in enabling the development and launch of Lilidorei, a standalone visitor attraction that opened in May 2023. The park welcomed over 200,000 visitors in 2024, significantly strengthening the Trust’s ability to reinvest in community programmes and other initiatives.

Adrian Bell, CEO of Allia C&C said “The RCB platform was an ideal source of unsecured, medium term fixed rate finance for the charity which needed funding suitable for a large development project. The bonds were placed with a range of retail and institutional investors looking to invest in positive social returns, and the bonds have continued to perform very well ever since”

“The Allia C&C team got us talking directly to funders and helped us every step of the way. There was a personal interaction that was important because this was always a people-focused project. Right from day one our values were aligned in a way that they weren’t with other funders. Yes, of course RCB investors want a financial return, but they also want to know the money is aligned to their own values.”

Mark Brassell, Chief Executive at Alnwick Garden Trust