After a
long “silence”, I am now able to resume my Blog, which throughout 2017 aims to
keep you informed on what’s new and what’s happening at Hull & East
Yorkshire Credit Union (HEYCU). Keep
checking in for regular updates, visit our Facebook page and Twitter
feeds and join in the conversation!
REFLECTIONS
ON 2016
For our Credit Union
2016 was not the easiest of years, but we did have some notable successes, as the
directors and I were able to report to our well-attended AGM in Hull Guildhall
recently.
We were proud to be
selected, alongside our friends at Commsave and Voyager Alliance Credit Unions,
to serve the staff of the Department for
Work & Pensions, a major civil service department. Although the scheme has only been running
since July, over 2,100 DWP staff have already joined one of the three credit
unions.
At HEYCU it’s been
our pleasure to welcome over 600 new members who work in Government offices and
Job Centres across Yorkshire, the North East and Scotland. All are saving with us every month direct
from their pay, and we’ve been able to help some afford Christmas with our
competitive loan deals.
In 2016 we also
rolled out a new affiliation with Co-operative Energy.
Many of our members (me included) are saving up to £250 a year after
switching their gas and electricity to this leading ethical utility
provider. When you switch to the Co-op
you can become a member (just like the credit union) and can access lots of
other member benefits too. You can have
your say and vote as a part-owner of the business. It’s the way lots of other services ought to
be run – railways and buses for example – with real consumer power!
We’ve made a good
start with our Development Plan to expand across Northern Lincolnshire. North
Lindsey College and Lebus Upholstery
became payroll partners, and at Ongo Homes we have a group of staff
called Credit Union Champions helping to promote us to their tenants and staff colleagues. They are really keen. We also opened two new school banks in
Winterton, where we are working with the Winterton
2022 Project.
It was sad to hear
that the small Grimsby-based North East Lincolnshire Credit Union had closed
down. Its 600 members were paid back all
their savings by the Financial Services
Compensation Scheme. However, it is
good to know that we have been able to help some of their members to find an
alternative by joining our branch in Scunthorpe High Street.
You can read more
about our busy year in our Annual Newsletter.
DON’T BE
CAUGHT OUT BY A “DIDDLUM”
Did you read about
the workers at a West Hull factory whose Christmas was spoilt because a
colleague had allegedly run off with their “diddlum” money? Over £10,000 was taken, apparently, from
around 16 people.
Sad tales like this
seem to crop up year after year. They
are especially cruel because the people are doing the right thing – planning
ahead and saving up, little and often, all year round to help them avoid money
stress when the festive spending season arrives.
These informal
Christmas savings clubs, often called “diddlums” in this part of the world,
have long been part of the local heritage.
It’s where a set of workmates, neighbours or club members all trust
their savings to someone willing to keep the records, look after and bank the
cash, and organise the big Christmas payout.
Mostly everything
turns out fine but it’s that key word “trust” that can catch you out. If the worst happens, “diddlum” savers have
no redress, because these savings clubs rely entirely on trust and have no
legal backing.
There are
alternatives. HEYCU runs a popular Christmas Saver account,
which is easy to join. Money can be paid
in at a branch, or by bank standing order, or even direct from your pay if you
work for one of our payroll partners.
There’s no minimum deposit, and the money is safely “locked away” until
November. It is paid out either in cash
or by bank transfer, so you can shop around for bargains, not be tied to one
shop as you would be with savings stamps.
The money is 100% protected just like in a bank. Check it out at (link to Christmas Saver
page)
Christmas is always
an expensive time. Saving ahead in a
reputable scheme is the best way to make it as stress free as possible.
SEE US IN
ST. STEPHENS IN THE NEW YEAR
We are one of several
local organisations taking part in a Community
Roadshow in St Stephen’s Shopping Centre from Monday 2nd to
Sunday 8th January, 2017.
Shoppers passing
through the Centre on their way to the January Sales won’t be able to miss us,
as there will be a big screen, positioned near H&M and Next, on which we
shall be showcasing our new 40 second promotional video. The aim is to tell the wider world what our
Credit Union is and does, and encourage people to pop into to our Central
Office in Brook Street (which happens to be just across the road) to meet our
friendly team.
We shall be handing
out leaflets about our services, and inviting people to complete a quick Quiz
which they can drop in a box to be in with a chance to win a £50 Shopping Voucher.
If you are in the
city centre during the first week in January, do come inside St. Stephen’s and
say hello.
SAY NO TO
LOAN SHARKS
Starting on 9th
January at Boothferry Primary School
in Goole, we are working with the England Illegal
Money Lending Team to encourage local families to start saving as their new
year’s resolution instead of borrowing from illegal money lenders. Pupils at the school will receive a visit
from Sid the Shark and be involved in some fun activities to raise awareness of
good money practice.
Working with East
Riding of Yorkshire’s Trading Standards, and using proceeds of crime money
(confiscated from convicted loan sharks), the Team are also sponsoring new
Credit Union accounts.
The first fifty
people to join our Credit Union at the schools visited from 9th January to 1st
March and save for two months will qualify for a savings boost of £25.00.
It is estimated that
310,000 households nationally are borrowing from illegal money lenders, many of
whom charge exorbitant rates of interest to trap people into a spiral of
debt. Loan sharks often resort to bully
tactics such as violence, threats or intimidation to make their victims repay.
People are urged
never to use unlicensed lenders who:
·
refuse to tell the
borrower how much they owe, how long they will be repaying for, or the APR;
·
don’t give paperwork;
·
add on extra charges
which increase the debt; or
·
take items such as
passports, bank cards or driving licences as “security”.
If you know of anyone
operating in this way, you can call the 24/7 confidential hotline 0300 555
2222, text a report to 078600 22116 or email reportaloanshark@stoploansharks.gov.uk
WELCOME
TO HULL’S SPECIAL YEAR AS UK CITY OF CULTURE
After all the frantic
planning, it’s nearly here. The year
when our City comes under the spotlight as the nation’s City of Culture. There is so much to look forward to, and already
we can see how things are changing for the better, as the huge repaving scheme
for the city centre streets approaches its conclusion. It is starting to look fantastic (my only
tiny niggle is that I wish they had renewed the dreadful uneven pavement
outside our Brook Street branch. But
never mind!).
Here at HEYCU we’d
like to congratulate everyone who has been involved with the city centre
transformation on doing such a splendid job.
We can’t wait to invite our credit union friends from the UK and beyond
to come and have a look round our wonderful City!
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