We’re having an exciting time
here at HEYCU. With “year-end” behind us and the accounts all safely away to
the auditors, we are now into our busy autumn season and there’s lots going on:
LET’S TELL THE WORLD … ABOUT
CREDIT UNIONS
On Thursday 19th October it’s International
Credit Union Day, when we celebrate the achievements of credit unions all
around the world and the positive way they help people to afford their
lives. You can find out more about the
worldwide credit union movement here.
Bearing in mind that our friends at Hull City of
Culture 2017 have adopted a “Tell the World” theme for their final
quarter’s activities, we thought we would do similar and Tell the World
about Credit Unions throughout the week 15th to 21st
October. Each day we will post an
interesting fact about credit unions on Facebook
and Twitter
- watch out for these, like, retweet and help us to spread the word.
If you’re popping into our branches during the week,
there may be some treats and a quick quiz or prize draw to take part in too!
WE’RE OPENING ON THE NEXT FIVE SATURDAYS
As a service to members to help them to apply for
loans for Christmas and other purposes, we’ll be opening our Brook Street
branch in Hull City Centre for the next five Saturdays from 10 am to 1
pm. Our friendly team will be there
to greet anyone who pops in to find out more about what we do, how to join,
what services we offer, obtain free quotations and apply for loans. We won’t be operating a cash withdrawal
service on Saturdays, but that will free us up to spend more time with people
who call in to enquire.
Saturday openings will be on 21 and 28 October, 4, 11
and 18 November.
HAVE YOU SEEN OUR NEW SHOPPING
BAGS?
Members love our new jute shopping bags! They hold a lot of shopping and are very
comfortable to hold. You could be the
proud owner of one of our lovely bags.
All you have to do is refer a friend to become a Credit Union Member and
when they start saving with us, or receive a CU Loan, we’ll give them and you a
free bag and enter you both in a prize draw to win a £50 Christmas Hamper.
With Christmas on the way, it’s an ideal time to
encourage a friend, family member or work colleague to sign up – let’s get
recruiting!
DITCH THE DOORSTEP LENDER
Given the acute problems that people have experienced
with one doorstep lender in particular this year, and the huge cost suffered by
people using them, isn’t it time to urge everyone to Ditch the Doorstep
Lender and come to the CU instead?
Head over to our website
to read some interesting facts comparing doorstep lenders and credit
unions!
BBC PROGRAMMES – A MATTER OF LIFE
OR DEBT
Have you seen the programmes on the BBC called “A
Matter of Life of Debt”?
They are on BBC1 on weekdays at 11 am or BBC2 at 7.15 am the next day or
on iPlayer. They reveal some fascinating
and heartwarming stories of people who have received ethical loans, and the
role that credit unions play for all walks of life. In one example, a credit union member had
received a low-cost loan which he had used to refurbish an ice cream van to
enable him to start a new venture. It
was “ice creams all round” in his community on the day his dream was realised! Our staff team are reporting a huge boost in
the number of enquiries coming in by phone and email since the series began,
and there are many more to come.
MORE POWER TO US!
It is exciting to announce that we are now generating
our own electricity here at HEYCU headquarters! We’ve worked with our energy partners, Co-op
Energy, to plan and install a set of solar panels on the
flat roof at Brook Street, which is both an investment in the future (keeping
our energy costs down for the benefit of all members) and a statement of our desire
to develop practices friendly to the environment.
NEW MEMBERS’ GROUP – TOWN COUNCIL
MEETING
We are thrilled that our new Goole & District
Member’s Group had a great launch in September. Members came from Howden, Snaith and
Gilberdyke as well as Goole for the first meeting, held at the Lowther
Hotel. A Know your Credit Union
quiz, devised by Steve Verity, got us off to a fun start, and was won by Pat
O’Neil. I explained about various credit
union services members might have been unaware of, and we discussed how we can spread
the word about HEYCU. Leaflet campaigns
and a presence in the Market were just some ideas put forward. We rounded off the evening by cutting a
specially decorated cake to celebrate Goole branch’s 8th
anniversary, and everyone went home with one of our stylish CU shopping
bags! The Group agreed to meet again on
a Wednesday just before Easter 2018 – all members in DN14, HU15 and YO8 postcode
areas are most welcome.
On another September evening I was invited to address
the members of Goole Town Council.
I presented a summary of all that we had achieved since our Pasture Road
branch opened in September 2009 – quite a list - and Councillors asked me
various questions. A full report
appeared in the Goole Times. I
was delighted to learn that, since our Credit Union brought fair and affordable
loans to Goole, the number of loan sharks operating there had fallen
dramatically. If anyone knows of illegal
lenders, they should call the confidential help line 0300 555 2222, email
stoploansharks.co.uk or text 07860 022116.
MEETING HULL BID
I had a very useful and interesting meeting with the
City Centre Manager at Hull BID the other day. Kathryn and her team at Hull BID are doing a
fantastic job of promoting Hull city centre as an up-and-coming destination and
looking after people, like us, who trade from premises in the area. Did you realise that, if you are a Credit
Union Member, you are a property owner in Hull city centre?
BOARD MEETING SUMMARY
We’ve decided to publish a quick summary of the
business conducted at our monthly Board meetings. We’ll be starting this very soon and the
summaries will appear on our website (Governance page). Of course the summary won’t disclose the few
items that, for various reasons, must remain confidential. But, as we are a co-operative organisation
owned by our members we felt that this would help members to understand what
the elected directors actually do, the kind of topics that they come together
to discuss, and perhaps interest other members in standing for election as one
of our volunteer directors. We’ll be
inviting nominations very soon – so how would you like to be a director of your
credit union?
Members – pop this date in your
Diary – your AGM will be held on Tuesday 11th December in Hull
Guildhall at 5.45 pm. More on this next
time!
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