JOHN’S BLOG – JANUARY 2018

A very Happy New Year to all readers!   

HOW ARE WE DOING?

The first quarter of our new Credit Union year (to 31 December) was certainly a hectic one, with all HEYCU branches experiencing an increase in activity compared with the same period a year ago.

By the end of the Christmas Loan season the value of loans issued was 44% higher than in the same season of 2016, and the income earned from loan interest was 26% higher.  

We are now serving 12,500 adult members and 1,400 junior savers, including 1,122 members employed by the DWP.

I’d like to thank our marvellous team of staff and volunteers for their hard work in growing the Credit Union and looking after our members so professionally.  If we can keep this momentum going, we will transform our results by next year end.

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNERS!

Well done and congratulations to our winning members and junior savers:

Grace (Acre Heads), Ella (Driffield Infants) and Christopher (Nafferton) were judged winners of our autumn School Savers’ poster colouring competition.  We had some stunning entries so that it was very difficult for our Member Services Team to pick the winners!   All entrants received a chocolate treat as a thank you.

Our 2017 Refer a Friend Prize Draw was won by Gail Turner of Bridlington.  Gail was delighted when she learnt that she had won a Food and Drink Hamper value £50 and said the coffee and walnut cake was her favourite!  The prize was handed over by staff colleague Sarah at our Prospect Street branch.   We’d like to thank all our members who referred a friend to join us recently – don’t forget to collect your free CU jute shopping bag next time you pop in, if you haven’t done already.

We invited members to post a review on our Facebook page.  Several of you did (many thanks) and Sarah Richardson was the name pulled out of the hat to win a visit for two to Father Christmas at Princes Quay, Hull!   So pleased you enjoyed it, Sarah.

OUR GOOLE CHRISTMAS TOY APPEAL

We felt very privileged to be invited to help Our Goole magazine’s first ever Christmas Toy Appeal.  So many people and local businesses collected presents for the appeal that there wasn’t an inch of spare space at our Goole branch on the day when they were distributed to local families! 

Jo Evans (Goole Branch) said: “We have a number of families we work with who have massively benefited from this toy appeal. It was so great to be involved and I found it quite emotional when the parents saw the presents and realised they were able to choose something for their children. 

“This has made such a big difference to so many families in our area.  Without the toy appeal, some of these children would have had very little to look forward to.  The look on the parents’ faces was just priceless and that will stay with me for a long time. I feel so proud to have been involved”.

Lisa Warrener, director of Our Goole, said: “We were absolutely blown away by the amount of presents we received for the appeal but not entirely surprised.  The people of Goole are well known for pulling together to help others in times of need and this toy appeal once again proved that to be true.”

OUR FANTASTIC AGM 2017

As always, it was a great thrill to welcome our members to their Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Hull’s prestigious Guildhall on 12^th December.

Members asked a variety of thoughtful questions on the annual report, which the President and I did our best to answer.   Our guest speaker, Aidene Walsh, chief executive of the Fairbanking Foundation, gave an interesting presentation, explaining how we qualified for the 5-star Fairbanking Mark for our CU Loans. 

After voting on the annual dividend, the director elections took place.  Congratulations to John Lawrence, Sue Nicholson and Alan Hignett on being re-elected to the Board, and to our two new directors, Joanne Foster and Altynay Guney.  

Altynay is part of the Customer Experience Team at Hull City Council and speaks several languages.  She has set up a community organisation to support Eastern Europeans living in the region with employment, welfare and financial issues, and is also a director of the Goodwin Development Trust.

Joanne, previously a HEYCU director from 2011 to 2013, has many years’ experience in financial services and banking, as well as working for leading social housing providers.  She served as a DWP Financial Inclusion Champion and is currently a social housing and welfare reform consultant.

Read the minutes of the AGM and some feedback from those members who attended.

AIM HIGHER – OUR CHARITY OF THE YEAR

At the AGM we held a “spare change” collection for a local charity, Aim Higher, raising £81.60.  We’re also adding in some other funds collected over the festive period and will arrange a presentation very soon. 

Aim Higher is a new charity launched in September 2016 to empower local families who face challenges with autism, mental health and educational barriers.  They organise regular support group meetings and offer one-to-one support for families as required.  They do some great work and you can read more on their website. 

We’ve decided to make Aim Higher our HEYCU charity of the year and the Employees’ Council will be planning some fund raising events that we can all support.

WEST HULL COMMUNITY RADIO

I was pleased to be invited on to West Hull FM recently to talk about our Credit Union.  This energetic local radio station broadcasts to a target community of 100,000 people in West Hull, Hessle, Cottingham, Anlaby and Willerby, who listen in on 106.9 FM or online.  It operates on a not-for-profit basis (like us) and is funded by sponsors, advertisers, grants and donations.

The aim of West Hull FM is to produce truly local radio, working with volunteers, local groups and organisations to give a voice to the community.  The station is staffed mostly by a team of dedicated, committed volunteers who excel in producing and presenting unique and innovative programmes.

From what I saw, there should be more ventures like West Hull FM and I look forward to visiting them again at some point.   If you’re in their area, why not listen in for yourself or find out more here. 

HEYCU PEOPLE

At the December Board meeting, our new President was welcomed into office!   Alan Hignett, who has been our President for the past four years, completed his term of office and handed over to Andy Stankard, who will now serve until at least December 2019.

The role of a Credit Union President is a key one, as it involves chairing all Members’ Meetings, chairing and leading the Board of Directors to ensure that its meetings are run effectively, supporting the individual directors and liaising well with the Chief Executive, as well as being the public face of the CU in many ways.

In my next blog there’ll be a pen portrait and some words from Andy on his hopes and plans for his time in office.

Meanwhile, there’s been some changes in the office.  Zoe (Hull Member Services) left to take up a management role elsewhere and we wish her all the best. 

Lauren has taken on the new role of Branch Development Co-ordinator and will become a familiar face at our branches over the coming months as we develop our exciting plans.  In 2017 Lauren was one of the first graduates from the CU Futures Leadership programme.

LOCAL MEMBERS’ GROUPS

Here’s a quick reminder that in parts of our region, we have Local Members’ Groups meeting regularly to engage our members in learning more about their Credit Union and helping to promote it in their area.

Driffield Local Members’ Group meets on the fourth Wednesday of every month from 10 am to 11 am at the branch office, Market Walk, Driffield.  Recently they ran a very popular stall at the Christmas Market with the help of our Penny the pennywise penguin, and they often raise funds for local charities.

Goole & District Local Members’ Group next meets on Wednesday 31 January from 6.00 pm at the Courtyard, Boothferry Road, Goole.  There’ll be light refreshments, a quiz and a prize draw.

If you are a member living in those areas, why not pop along and join in?  The meetings are very informal and you’ll be made most welcome.

TIME FOR A NEW YEAR MONEY MAKEOVER

This month we’re really keen to help people across the Humber Region to give their money a New Year Makeover.  We’d love members and non-members alike to pop into one of our branches for a chat to see if we can save them some money.

At this time of year, those credit card bills drop through the letter box and many people find themselves embarrassed by the balances they ran up on the festive spends.  Some will certainly be paying more in monthly payments than they need to. This is where we may be able to help.   Why not see if you could Swap & Drop by switching to a Credit Union Loan with lower interest and lower repayments?

With a CU Loan, you not only simplify your finances by making one simple, smaller payment, but you can choose to “save as you borrow”, with repayments split between your loan and savings.  So, when you’ve repaid your loan, you’ll have built up some handy savings too. 

As part of the Money Makeover, we’d also encourage you to open a Christmas Saver account.  With over £700,000 saved in 2017, ours is probably the Humber Region’s biggest Christmas Club, with all the funds safely protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (many clubs aren’t), and locked away from temptation until 1^st November each year. 

The Money Advice Trust, a debt charity, is advising consumers to plan ahead, set a household budget for 2018 and look at joining a Credit Union to save up for a stress-free Christmas.   We’d agree – and to make it even more appealing, for a limited period we’re offering a £10 Bonus to anyone who opens a Christmas Saver account with us, makes at least two deposits, and keeps the savings in until November.   The £10 bonuses are kindly funded by the Illegal Money Lending Team, a public agency that helps to combat loan sharks.

So there’s just two ideas for your New Year Money Makeover – let’s see if we can help, pop into a branch today for a chat with our friendly team, or call us on 01482 778753.

JOHN’S BLOG – JANUARY 2017

OUR SPECIAL NEW YEAR

It seems ages ago that we were welcoming in the New Year and, here in the City of Kingston upon Hull, enjoying the launch of our time as UK City of Culture.  And what a spectacular start it was!  The fireworks on the opening night were well worth seeing, despite it being one of the coldest nights of the winter, but then the Made in Hull experience that followed was simply stunning.  Seeing the past 80 years of Hull’s history so cleverly projected on to the walls of some of our most iconic buildings in glorious technicolour was amazing, and huge crowds revelled in the experience all week long.   If this is just the start, what follows on as the year unfolds will be well worth waiting for!

Meanwhile back at the Credit Union, we’ve had a busy opening month as well…

ST STEPHEN’S COMMUNITY ROADSHOW

Our video debut at the roadshow in St Stephen’s Shopping Centre proved very popular and during the week-long event we enlightened a lot more people as to what credit unions are all about.  Staff colleagues joined the professional marketeers to meet shoppers, hand out leaflets and invite them to join in our Quiz.   Here are the answers in case you were wondering:

·         Your Credit Union is owned by – its Members

·         A credit union can charge whatever it likes if you borrow money from it – False

·         Borrowing from a credit union is cheaper than borrowing from a doorstep lender – True

·         Savings are better protected in a big bank than in a credit union – False

We are still checking the replies but will announce the winner of the £50 shopping voucher very soon!

SOCIAL MEDIA WORKSHOP

We’d like to thank Phil Frampton of the Barclays Credit Union Development Project for putting on a very interesting social media workshop for us.  We were delighted that colleagues from two other credit unions – Voyager Alliance and Commsave – could join us for the event.

LARGER CREDIT UNIONS EVENT

Alan (our President) and I attended a very worthwhile ABCUL Larger Credit Unions event in Manchester.   The agenda was packed with useful topics and opportunities to share news and information and compare performance.  I was interested in some recent research that showed that one of the features of credit unions that members value most is the ability to save while you borrow.  It is so ingrained in the way we’ve always worked that we have perhaps forgotten what a powerful benefit it is.

SHOP THE SHARK EVENTS

Our campaign to urge people to “Say No to Loan Sharks” got off to a great start when Sid the (reformed) Shark visited Boothferry Primary School in Goole to meet pupils and involve them in some healthy money talk.  The Headteacher did a brilliant job setting the scene and encouraging them to join our Pennies 2 Pounds School Bank.   A week later Sid visited Greatfield Estate in Hull and the look of surprise as he wandered into the local shops to meet staff and customers was a sight to behold!   Sid’s message was of course to warn people about getting into the clutches of illegal money lenders, who do so much harm to families and communities up and down the land.

If anyone knows of loan sharks operating they should contact the Illegal Money Lending Team on 0300 555 2222 or email reportaloanshark@stoploansharks.gov.uk or text loan shark + message to 60003.  All messages are treated in complete confidence and you could be doing your community the biggest favour ever.

Remember, anyone who opens a Credit Union savings account in Goole or Greatfield between now and 1^st March and saves at least twice during February, will qualify for a £25 savings bonus!  Pop down to see us to claim your voucher.

DWP MEMBER RECRUITMENT IN GLASGOW

Last week I was in Glasgow with our portable Credit Union recruitment stand meeting staff at the major DWP offices at Northgate.   DWP staff there can join HEYCU and save with us by payroll deduction.  I should like to thank credit union volunteer Angela for her brilliant help and company on the day.  We had some good conversations with the DWP colleagues and I was interested to learn that there are around 34 credit unions in Glasgow and they have the highest penetration of membership of anywhere in the UK.  Quite by chance, it happened to be Robbie Burns Day and to join in the celebrations I tucked into a lunch of haggis, tatties and neeps in the staff canteen!   I am sure we will be back north of the border before too long.

WINTERTON NEWS

The Pennies 2 Pounds School Banks at the Winterton schools continue to make good progress and during the three months to 30 January 2017 over £530 was saved into the accounts by pupils and their families. Well done to all our savers!

Andrew from our Scunthorpe branch was invited to make a presentation to the children of Winterton Junior School during their assembly and this was well received.  The Headteacher then announced to the children that the school will deposit £1 into every new account opened by a pupil this school year.  Chole Fowler will be running the Winterton Junior School Bank on Thursdays 9 Feb, 9 Mar, 6 Apr, 4 May, 8 and 22 Jun, 13 and 20 July.  Donna Goodhand will be running the Winterton Infants School Bank weekly on a Friday.

We are also planning to open a regular contact point inside Winterton’s Co-op.  Watch out for more news!

DRIFFIELD SCHOOLS CO-ORDINATOR

We are very sad to be losing the services of our wonderful Schools Co-ordinator in the Driffield area, Rita Walker.  Rita and Nigel are leaving the area to go and live in the North-East to be closer to their family but they have been sterling volunteers over the years and we shall miss them.  Rita has been the mainstay of our Pennies 2 Pounds Club, organising and supporting the volunteer teams and putting on special assemblies in numerous schools ranging from the Driffield area up to Bridlington and deep into Holderness.   Everyone at HEYCU would like to say “thank you Rita for a job well done” and our very best wishes for the future.

PAYING OVER THE ODDS FOR CREDIT?   WHY NOT SWAP AND DROP?

At this time of year we know many people are feeling money-challenged and some may be saddled with big credit card bills that were run up during the festive spending season. As a result they may be paying out more in monthly repayments than necessary.  That’s where we may be able to help.  Take a look at the Swap & Drop page on our website and see if we could save you some money by switching to a Credit Union Loan with lower interest and lower repayments.