HEY CU’s Christmas Blog

The most wonderful time of the year is fast approaching, and with it comes presents, clothes, holidays and shopping lists so long you’ll have to check them more than twice! The festive season is the most expensive time of year for most of us, so we at HEY Credit Union have put together a few handy tips to help cut the cost of Christmas this year.

1.    Stick to the budget!

It may seem obvious, but sticking to a set budget is one of the best ways to make sure you don’t overspend this Christmas. Sit down before you start shopping and draw up a list of everything you can think of – including presents, food & drink, clothing, transport, and so on – and the amount you estimate to spend on each. You can then keep track of how much you’re spending on each item, and tick them off the list once purchased. You’ll also be able to see where most of your budget is being spent, and will find it easier to reduce costs where possible.

2.    Beware of Christmas ‘deals’

Retailers know that almost everybody is in shopping mode the closer it gets to December 25^th. Almost every advert and email you come across is trying to persuade you to part with your cash in exchange for Christmas gifts, with the promise of discounts and exclusive offers. In recent years, Black Friday and Cyber Monday promise slashed prices, and whilst you may be able to pick up the odd bargain – it’s essential to remember that retailers are trying to get you to spend as much as possible. Beware of overspending on items you don’t need, and be especially careful of Black Friday scams.

3.    Try ‘Secret Santa’

Gifting presents doesn’t have to cost a fortune, and the gifts we remember most are the ones that come from the heart. If you usually have a long list of people to buy for in your family or friendship group, why not try a Secret Santa? Each person gets given their own person to buy for – so you can really think about getting the perfect gift, whilst saving a pretty penny! It all adds to the excitement and thoughtfulness of the holidays.

4.    Take advantage of loyalty schemes

If you shop at a supermarket throughout the year, make sure to take advantage of any bonus or loyalty points you’ve accumulated. All of the major chains provide loyalty schemes to keep customers coming back, and Christmas could be a perfect time to cash in on the purchases you’ve made in the past 12 months. 

5.    Proper preparation

Despite it only being just the one day, we all know preparation for Christmas starts well in advance of the 25^thDecember. By making sure you get a head start on the festivities, you can save yourself quite a bit, especially if you’re booking travel over the Christmas period. Trains and flights tend to shoot up in price the nearer to Christmas you go, so try to plan ahead and book as early in advance as possible. 

Whilst planning in advance is a great idea, it’s worth bearing in mind that many retailers drop their prices in the January sales. It could be worth keeping this in mind when shopping, and promising your loved ones their presents after the Christmas rush.

6.     Open one of our Christmas Saver Accounts for 2020!

This year, our members broke records, as they saved a huge £850,000 in this account over the course of 2019! We believe it’s the safest, and biggest, festive savings pot in the whole of the Humber region. By putting away as much or as little as you throughout the year, you can take the financial stress out of Christmas. Get a head start on 2020 and apply for an account today.

As November ends and December begins, here are a few fantastic events to get you in the mood for Christmas 

Hull Christmas Market

With a magical Christmas tree, Kids Zone and festive food and drink stalls, you’ll be hard pressed to find anywhere better to kick off the festive season. It’s also walking distance from our Head Office!

Driffield Christmas Lights

Come see us in Driffield Town Centre on Friday 29^th November for the Christmas Lights Switch On, and say hello to Penny the Pennywise Penguin!

Scunthorpe Food and Gift Fair

For one day only on Saturday 14^th December, Scunthorpe town centre will be transformed into a winter wonderland with gifts, treats and snacks aplenty on offer.

See Santa’s Sleigh in Bridlington

Take the little ones to see Santa’s Sleigh in all its’ glory this December, as he makes his way around the streets of Bridlington from 1^st December.

Wishing everybody a wonderful Christmas and a happy new year, from all of us here at HEY Credit Union.

John

CEO, HEY Credit Union

31 July 2015

In praise of Hull and East Yorkshire

There's lots of reasons why I consider myself fortunate to live and work in our fine city of Kingston upon Hull and beautiful East Yorkshire, but two in particular come to mind as I write this piece:

Firstly, our wonderful Hull Trains service!  This week I was "up with the lark" to travel to London for a training event on workplace planning, to help us prepare for our Credit Union Transformation Programme.  On hearing that I had come down from Hull, a fellow delegate said, "That would be a long and difficult journey for you, I bet you had to change trains a few times".  I replied, "Not at all, we have our own train service, First Hull Trains, that runs direct into Kings Cross seven times a day and the customer service is fantastic!"  Both my journeys were on time, and without a hitch as far as I could tell.  In fact, the service is so good that they've come top for satisfaction out of all the country's train operators in the independent National Passenger Survey, with a score of 96%.  And now they've been shortlisted for Rail Operator of the Year.  Good luck to those very nice people from Hull Trains!

My second reason is that East Yorkshire is home to the Driffield Show.  On 22 July I joined the crowds descending on the market town of Driffield (Capital of the Wolds) to enjoy the Driffield Agricultural Society's 140th annual show.  With a terrific variety of exhibits ranging from cattle, sheep, pigs and dogs to food, flowers, handicrafts and trade stands, the Show seemed bigger and better than ever, fully justifying its growing reputation as the largest one day show in the country.  I was interested but not surprised to read in the programme that planning it takes a full year and, on show day, over 100 volunteers are on site helping everything to run smoothly.  It's a great day out for all the family, so let's hope its fine tradition carries on long into the future.

And now to Northern Lincolnshire, an area I am less familiar with personally, but one I am coming to know, now that our Credit Union extends its reach across the Humber.  On Monday, I was in Scunthorpe, starting with a briefing for the team at Crosby Employment Bureau (part of ongo), all about our new Business Start-up Loans facility.  Their advisors meet people who have plans to go self-employed or freelance, but who don't always find it easy to obtain a small bank loan to finance their start up needs, whether it's for equipment to start a hairdressing business, workshop tools, or shop fittings to open a cafe.  Now they can refer clients to our web page where the application process is all explained, together with sample documents such as a business plan and cash flow projection.

Later on, I nipped over to Winterton with Kate Pike (Credit Union Director) and David Martin (our North Lincs Business Development Officer), for a little ceremony to mark the launch of our partnership with Winterton 2022, the local residents group that's secured Big Lottery funding to regenerate the town.  The venue was the historic All Saints Church and, even as we arrived, the place was teeming with craftspeople, beavering away to recreate the ancient bell-ringing chamber.  The whole church is undergoing a full restoration and, while far from complete, it is shaping up very impressively and well worth a look.

Ongo Carnival

We'll be having a stall at this year's Ongo Carnival, which takes place on 12 August at Manor Park, Burringham Road, Scunthorpe, from 11 am to 3 pm.  With over 500 people expected at the park, the free event is set to be a day to remember with activities including a circus workshop, trampolines, zorb footballing and demonstrations of majorettes and martial arts.  For the youngsters there'll be a small animal farm, soft play area, bouncy castle and fun house.  Information stands and stalls from housing staff, the Police, Fire Service and Alzheimer's Society, plus of course our Credit Union, will be on hand too, and naturally there will be some tasty food options for visitors to enjoy.

Community Notice Boards

Walking around my home area this week, I was pleased to see some familiar posters in the Community Notice Board frames - advertising our not-for-profit Credit Union.  Thank you, Hull City Council, for making this facility available, to help us spread awareness among the residents of the City's Avenue, Bricknell and Newland Wards.

If you have a notice board in your community that could benefit from a colourful A5 size Credit Union poster, please let us know - we can get some posters out to you, with the relevant branch address in the footer so that people know where to find us.

Employee to Volunteer, via Retirement!

I'd like to welcome back our good friend, Richard, as a Credit Union Volunteer.  Richard worked for me for nine years before taking retirement earlier this year, but it seems his enthusiasm for the Credit Union movement just won't go away.  So, he's now volunteered to help us support our volunteer-run branches such as Driffield and Withernsea, an offer warmly welcomed by those colleagues, who enjoyed his training sessions and support before.

Credit Unions around the world

I've been reading a special edition of Co-operative News, devoted to credit union activities.  Did you know that the World Council of Credit Unions estimates that over 200 million people worldwide are now credit union members, with around 57,000 separate credit unions (like Hull & East Yorkshire) operating in 103 countries?  The United States is the jewel in the crown, with almost half the total members.  As in Canada, which also has a strong movement, more than 40% of the population are members.  Australia has a large credit union sector, with 4.5 million members, while in Africa credit unions (known more accurately there as SACCOs - Savings and Credit Co-operatives) play a key role in  countries like Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

However, I hadn't realised that there are large regions with strong co-operative traditions, still untouched by the credit union system, because history took them down a different route.  So, in Europe, only the UK, Ireland, Poland and some Eastern countries have credit union networks.  In Germany, France and Spain, the role of credit unions has traditionally been performed by savings banks, or co-operative banks such as Credit Agricole and Credit Mutuel instead.   In the UK less than 2% of the adult population are credit union members, but then we are catching up fast!

Holiday Time

During August some of our branches will have slightly different opening times, or close on certain days, due to unavoidable cover shortage, so do watch our website News page for full details.  Notices will be posted on the branch windows and staff will aim to tell regular visitors well in advance.

At this time of year, many of us face extra expenditure due to holidays or the need to buy school uniforms or equipment.  Could we help with a small loan?   Have a look at the Loan Calculator on the Loans page of our website or pop in to see us.

If you have yet to go on your summer holidays, we hope you have a great time!

It's National Volunteer Week!

Hat's off to our volunteers

My notes have a distinct volunteering flavour this week as we are celebrating National Volunteer Week!   Credit Unions rely on volunteer effort to reach into communities that it just wouldn't be possible to serve otherwise.   I'd like to pay tribute to everyone who volunteers with us and helps to make HEYCU the strong "family" that it has become today.

Welcome to new director

A warm welcome to Kate Pike, who has joined our Board of Directors as a co-opted representative from Northern Lincolnshire Branch to serve until the AGM in December.  Kate was the Secretary of North Lincolnshire CU before it merged in April.   Credit unions are of course unique as financial businesses for having an entirely voluntary (but nevertheless well trained) Board of Directors.

Community Volunteering Road Show 2015

East Riding of Yorkshire Council and ERVAS (the volunteer agency) are hosting a Community and Volunteering Road Show this month, visiting towns across the county to promote community volunteering.  We’ll have a presence at the Goole roadshow at Boothferry precinct (near the library) on Thursday 4 June, so if you are in the area do pop along and say hello.

Driffield Tenth Anniversary

It scarcely seems possible but ten years have slipped by since a group of community-minded Driffield folk approached us about starting a credit union in the town. Several of them still actively volunteer at the HEYCU Driffield Branch that their efforts brought to life, and do so with great success.  Plans are afoot to mark the 10th anniversary in September but, for now, congratulations to them all.

Winterton 2022

We have started working with a new group, Winterton 2022.  A community of 5,000 people to the north of Scunthorpe, Winterton has been awarded £1 million of Big Lottery funding to improve the town.  On 1st June we met to start planning for credit union services, including school banks and a local contact point, as part of this project.  Two of our active volunteers - David and Kate - ran a stall at Winterton Street Party on bank holiday Monday, to meet local residents, so who knows, this might be our next "Driffield"!

Pennies 2 Pounds update

Remember our Tour de Yorkshire competition for the schools?   I am pleased to announce that the overall winner was Charlie Ivens of Northfield Infants School at Driffield.  Well done to Charlie, who wins a box of cycling-related goodies, and thanks to everyone who entered.

We're just finalising our Pennies 2 Pounds Summer Term competition which will have different challenges for KS1 and KS2 pupils and there will be gift vouchers and savings deposits to be won!   Details from P2P volunteers or on our website shortly.

Carmel (East Riding Project Officer) attended an event at Bishop Burton College designed to foster independence as the students prepare to leave college.  She enjoyed meeting them and, as always, some good links were made.

We are delighted that Patrington Primary School in Holderness are opening their school bank on Thursday 11 June with St Marks Pre-School at Anlaby soon after, on Friday 12 June.

Volunteer Training

There's a new training course on our website Volunteers page which we hope our volunteers will be tempted to sample!   It's called A Credit Union Member - more than just a Customer, and explains what the CU difference really means.  Volunteers can take the course in their own time, in the comfort of their own home, although group sessions can be arranged at branches if desired.  After completing the course, you can download a short quiz, fill it in and either post or email it to info@hullandeycu.co.uk. We will give you some feedback and send you a nice certificate to recognise your efforts.    There's a course on Data Security on there too.  

Hull City of Culture 2017

Last Thursday I followed the crowd from the local business community thronging into Hull Truck Theatre to hear an update from Martin Green, the Chief Executive of Hull City of Culture 2017.  Martin and his team are busy developing an exciting four-season themed programme of events, which should not only thrill and enthuse the people of our great city but also attract many thousands of visitors to explore this part of the world for the first time.  An impromptu speech by Councillor Steve Brady, Hull City Council Leader, about the difference this cultural activity will make, giving people different experiences outside their everyday lives, was most inspiring. It was refreshing to witness a politician speaking freely, from the heart, not using a ready-made, clinical, risk-free script put together by someone else, but instead just "telling it as it is"!

If any member has any bright ideas about how our Credit Union - a significant member-owned business based in Hull - might support our City of Culture, I'd love to hear from you.  

One of the aims of the Year is to create a lasting legacy of benefits, and given that there will be scope to form lots of new businesses within both the cultural sector and the wider tourism-support industry, with the potential to grow and prosper long after 2017 ends, perhaps our new Business Start-up Loans facility could be of interest to those budding entrepreneurs?   

     

Quids in Project getting there

I had a meeting with the Quids In Project Team to find out how this project is doing.  For those who don't know Quids In is a multi-agency project run by Hull and East Riding Citizens Advice Bureau to help Hull's social tenants to make the most of their money.   Our Credit Union is one of the project partners and our staff member Juliana serves as a "banking buddy", helping people who’ve had difficulties obtaining bank accounts to open one that meets their needs.

Here's how Quids In recently helped a struggling tenant in the city with his high bills and debt.  The team helped him:

• save £20 a month on gas and electricity;
• apply for a water meter (cheaper for someone living alone);
• pay off his debt to Yorkshire Water with a grant from the Yorkshire Water Trust;
• sort out his other debts;
• cut his other costs; and
• get the help he was entitled to.

He is now less worried about money and feels he will be able to stay out of debt now he has more money in his pocket every week.

Coud Quids In help someone you know?   Contact Quids In on 01482 224511 or quidsin@hull-eastridingcab.org.uk

Withernsea's moment of fame

It was good to see dear little Withernsea, where we have a volunteer-run branch, featured on TV last week, when a group of feisty ladies called the Ruby Red Performers reached the semi-finals of Britain's Got Talent.  Apparently their adventures will be in the next edition of Seaside Radio magazine, and so will our Credit Union.  Look out for it!

Newly elected or re-elected?

Although my last blog was just after the General Election I forgot to congratulate all those who were elected across our common bond either to serve in Parliament or on a local authority.  We are proud that several MPs and Councillors in our region are Members of our Credit Union.

I am sure those elected realise what a privilege it is to represent the people (just as I did during my ten years as an elected director of The Co-operative Group), and what a weight of expectation there is to deliver on those promises!  Best of luck to you all.

Spread the cost - with a low cost Freedom Loan!

Did you know your Credit Union offers the best deal around on small loans?  It's often been mentioned by the Money Saving Expert and others, that we are many times cheaper than typical doorstep or online credit.   Why pay more than you need to for credit?  Check out our Freedom Loan today!