Here are HEYCU we’ve now ‘resurfaced’ after the most hectic
Christmas season ever! We issued the
highest ever number and value of loans as well as record pay outs of Christmas Savers
- £806,000 in fact. On top of all that
we had our year-end accounts to put to bed and an AGM to arrange. So a big well done to our staff and volunteer
family for coping so well and keeping the ship on course.
Here’s a round-up of the past few months’ activity:
OUR AGM
We were pleased to welcome over 80 members and guests to Hull’s
splendid Guildhall on 11 December. A big part of what makes credit unions so
different from banks is the ability of member-customers to take part in shaping
our future by asking questions of the Directors and voting on the big
decisions. As well as an increased
dividend on savings, members voted to disband the Credit Committee and to
extend our field of membership to include more Government departments and all
who live or work in postcode area YO (North Yorkshire).
Thank you to members attending for their great feedback: All had
found attending a positive experience and we will ask for the chairs to be
spread out a little more next time.
£100,000 SHARE OUT
Following our much improved financial results we posted a dividend
of 1% to all members’ savings accounts the day after the AGM – based on the
average daily savings in the year ended 30 September 2018 – that’s nearly
£100,000 from the rewards of mutual trading going back into the pockets of our
members. If we were a commercial
business, the money would most likely have been sucked out of our community,
away to the City of London or even a foreign tax haven!
WHY DISBAND THE CREDIT COMMITTEE?
At the AGM it was explained that the growth of the credit union and
changes to the way loans are processed had reduced the need for a members’
committee. When we started 20 years ago,
each and every loan was looked at individually by the Credit Committee, who met
specially on a Thursday evening to go through them. On Friday mornings our office phone was red
hot as members called in to find out if their loan had been granted!
Before long that was no longer practical, and we appointed staff
loan officers with the professional knowledge to underwrite loans, following
policies set by the Committee and Board.
Gradually the Credit Committee’s role moved on from making loan
decisions to one of oversight – checking that its policies were working and
tweaking them as necessary. The Board of
Directors became more involved in loan strategy too, as we made growing the
loan book a key part of our annual business plan, recognising that it is a
major driver of our future sustainability.
As in many credit unions of our size the need for a Credit
Committee had passed and the AGM agreed to disband it (in line with the Rules),
with a big “thank you” to all members who had served it so diligently over the
years.
AIMING HIGHER
A nice touch at the AGM was the presentation of £735 to our Charity
of the Year, Aim Higher. The funds raised by staff and members during
2018 will make a difference to the charity, which supports families challenged
by mental health, autism and learning difficulties. It was my pleasure to meet
some of them at their monthly drop in session at 171 High Street, Hull on 9
January, when I explained the different ways that we help families to make the
most of their money, for instance Christmas saving, junior savings accounts and
our Child Benefit Loans.
We are currently consulting with staff, volunteers and our local
member groups to select our 2019 Charity
of the Year, so watch this space!
REFER A FRIEND PRIZE DRAW
In the run up to Christmas we encouraged members who were happy
with our services to ‘refer a friend’ and many did so. Our computer randomly selected two lucky
members – Simone Priestman of Greatfield, Hull and Helen Harper of Newport,
Brough – to each win a £50 shopping
voucher. Just in time for those New Year
Sales!
BUSY WINTER IN WINTERTON
The start of 2019 has seen a big increase in credit union activity
in Winterton, North Lincolnshire where we have a weekly contact point in the
Co-op Store, supported by Winterton 2022 Big
Local project. On 16
January we relaunched the Pennies 2 Pounds
school bank at the Infants School which now takes place every Wednesday at the
end of the school day. Penny our
pennywise penguin waddled into the opening session, much to the delight of the
children, who received a piggy bank and £1 to start their savings off. Patrick, our man in Winterton, is also
presenting some money information sessions at the Hub and the Cornerstone Café
on alternate weeks for the benefit of local residents.
WITHERNSEA NEXT!
Last time we mentioned our ambitious plans to make Withernsea a
Credit Union Town. We’ve now received
approval from the funding body, Big Local, to recruit a Development Worker to
spearhead our expansion project. As I
write the closing date for the role has passed and we hope an appointment will
soon be made. We know the local
community is very enthusiastic about it; as usual we are taking a different
approach to the big banks who are retreating from such towns at an ever faster
pace.
LINCOLNSHIRE CO-OP SUPPORT FAIR FINANCE
We are most grateful to our friends at Lincolnshire Co-op for
including HEYCU in their current Community
Champions. The scheme is their way
of giving back to local communities.
Since it launched in 2013 they’ve helped hundreds of local charities and
groups, raising amounts from £200 to over £200,000. Every time a Co-op member shops in their
branches they make a donation to a good cause, chosen by their staff and
members for a three month period. The
theme, from December 2018 to March 2019, is financial well-being and we are to
benefit from donations made at Crowle, Bransholme and Molescroft Co-ops. If in an area served by Lincolnshire Co-op,
please support their stores – they are one of the UK’s leading Co-operative
businesses.
OUR MEMBERS’ LOTTERY
One way that our own members can support our ongoing development is
by joining our Members’ Lottery. For just £1 a ticket, deducted monthly from
your savings account, you get the chance to share in a monthly prize fund of
around £600. The top prize is usually
£250, with several others ranging from £75 to £10. At Christmas time there are triple prizes to win! 60% of the ticket proceeds are paid out,
with the rest supporting our training and development activities. We are grateful to the Hull Branch of UNISON, the public service union, for kindly
sponsoring some prizes again throughout 2019.
ENGAGE ACCOUNT RELAUNCH
With the coming of the Universal Credit benefit system to Hull and
East Yorkshire, many more people are needing a transactional banking facility,
to help them manage their monthly benefit payments, and some would clearly
prefer to bank with their local credit union.
Although we can no longer offer our own Current Account, we work with a
partner called Engage
to provide a VISA card, exclusive to credit union members, with many useful
features. We’ve recently relaunched
this account, with a lower monthly fee of £2.99. Find out more here.
BIG ANNIVERSARY YEAR
2019 is a very special year for our Credit Union – on 10th
June it will be 20 years since we
were founded. We are looking forward to
celebrating this special anniversary with our members old and new. If you have any bright ideas for ways that we
might mark the occasion, please let us know!
We’ll keep you updated with our plans as the year unfolds.
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Our credit union has come a long way in 20 years and its shape and
size is nothing like it was when formed, covering not only the entire Humber
Region but also the work family of national employers like the DWP. We hope we haven’t lost any of the personal
touch or friendliness of those early days.
However, we have reached the point where we need to think about our
trading identity and how relevant it is to all our members. Our official name is, and will remain Hull & East Yorkshire Credit Union. But perhaps it’s time to consider a different
trading name – one that: is relevant and acceptable across all parts of our
common bond; is short and simple to fit easily on to shop fronts, posters and
leaflets; but pays due regard to our proud heritage (ie where we first began).
We have therefore started to experiment with using HEY Credit Union in our communications,
and would be interested to have your feedback on this. One member called it a “cool name”, saying it
acknowledges our roots but in a modern way.
Changing a trading name is not to be done lightly – as lots of
businesses have found to their cost – especially when we’ve worked hard to
build up a respected brand. But, this is
your credit union, and we’d really welcome your views as we approach our 20th
anniversary.
Keep an eye on our
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