JOHN’S BLOG – DECEMBER 2020

We’ve had an extremely busy autumn season here at HEY Credit Union, so here’s an update for you on what we’ve been up to:

 

OUR THRIFTY CHRISTMAS SAVERS    

This year’s Christmas will be very different for many of us, but one thing won’t have changed.  Ever since 2007, we’ve been helping our members to lock funds away safely for the festive season in our popular Christmas Saver account.  Despite temporarily unlocking the accounts this spring and summer to help those who were impacted by the pandemic, over 1,300 of our members managed to save up £869,644 this time round, and we started paying them out on 2 November.  If you haven’t had a Christmas Saver before, now is the ideal time to start one for 2021.  It’s worth noting that no major bank offers anything like it.

FIRST EVER VIRTUAL AGM A BIG SUCCESS   

A lifetime in the Co-operative Movement has taught me the importance of the Annual General Meeting (AGM), where the members we serve can hold their directors and managers to account, ask challenging questions and cast their votes on various important topics.   Our traditional December AGM, held in the impressive setting of Hull’s historic Guildhall, is a highlight of my Credit Union year and I know many of our members feel the same.  We were therefore a little nervous about switching to an online alternative this year but, given the rules restricting large gatherings, there was little choice.   We needn’t have worried.   Although the directors and I missed seeing our members in person very much, we had some great feedback from those who logged on to our first ever virtual AGM on 8 December. I was especially pleased that we had members join in from every one of the seven towns where we have a branch, and even from Scotland!

A big thank you to Jackie from the ABCUL Virtual AGM Service, who hosted and administered the meeting superbly! We can thoroughly recommend the service to any credit union planning an AGM. 

 

REVIEW OF THE YEAR  

At an AGM, our directors report to our members on how the past year has gone and set out their plans for the future.   We’ve produced a quick-read summary here of our 2020 Annual Report.

   

COMMUNITY DONATIONS

On moving to a virtual AGM, we decided to donate the funds normally budgeted for the AGM room booking, members’ buffet tea, printed materials and so on, to a selection of organisations who support vulnerable people in the communities we serve.   We were pleased to donate £150 each to:

·        Kingfisher Café, Bridlington
·        Driffield & Wolds Food Bank
·        Goole Foodbank’s Christmas Toy Appeal
·        The Forge Project, Scunthorpe
·        Shores Community Pantry, Withernsea
·        Beverley Cherry Tree Community Pantry

·        Hull Trades Council Unity Shop Food Bank

 

MEGA LOTTERY DRAW      

HEY Credit Union’s Friendly Folk have made their Grand Christmas Draw and given 48 members an early Christmas present, with prizes totalling £1,750.  The Members’ Lottery is drawn on the second Wednesday every month and you could be among the next batch of prize winners – but only if you’ve signed up to take part.  Tickets cost £1 (deducted from your CU Membership Account each month until you tell us to stop).   At least 60% of the ticket sales are returned to members as prizes over the year, the rest being donated to HEY Credit Union to help with advertising, training and admin.  We’re now taking applications to join our Members’ Lottery fun in 2021 – here is a joining form.

SHORES BECOMES OUR LATEST PAYROLL PARTNER    

The Shores Centre in Withernsea has become the latest in a growing band of employers in our region to offer its workforce our unique Payroll Save & Borrow staff benefit.  Shores employees can now save as they earn, with deposits taken care of effortlessly straight from their pay packet.  It’s a safe and flexible way to put money aside knowing it’s there for sunny holidays or rainy days.  The Shores Centre Chief Executive Jayne Nendick, said: “It’s been a tough year with the pandemic and we’ve all had to be more mindful of our finances, so we are delighted to be working with the Credit Union to help support our teams in making their money go further”.   If you are an employer and would like to find out more about this simple, free wellbeing benefit, please click here or email info@hullandeycu.co.uk.

 

OUR FIRST SOCIAL IMPACT REPORT  

We have recently launched our first ever Social Impact Report.  We’ve always been clear that credit unions have a different purpose from banks and other financial service companies, as they are not run simply to make monetary profits but to make a difference to the lives of their member-customers, and the communities they serve.  In short, they are about financial wellbeing, helping members to afford their lives and be better off as a result.  HEY Credit Union has been around for 21 years, but how much difference has it actually made?   That was what our member-elected directors wanted to find out, when they challenged me to produce this report. 

I hope you will enjoy reading it and please give us some constructive feedback to help us improve future reports.    By reporting on their social impact, credit unions can help to advance the cause of fair, affordable and co-operatively-run financial services, which we are so passionate about.

 

CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR OPENING TIMES    

Remember, we are here for you but our branch opening times will be a little different over the holiday period.  Here are the changes.

 

That’s all for now and for 2020, but I’ll be back with more news next year.   Before I close, though, I’d like to say a big personal “thank you” to our HEY Credit Union staff, volunteers and partners for all their hard work.  They have truly gone the extra mile to help and support our members this year in very difficult circumstances and I am so proud of them.  The kind messages we often receive from members shows that they share my view.   

I hope all readers will have the best possible Christmas, some time for a well-earned rest and be able to look forward to better times to come.

JOHN’S BLOG – JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019

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 10^th 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 20^th anniversary.

Keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter pages to stay up to date with our news, offers and events.

JOHN’S BLOG – NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2017

Life is buzzing here at HEY-CU as it’s “all hands on deck” to provide our members with the funds they need to afford the coming festive season.  If we take a little longer than usual to respond to your enquiries, we hope you will understand.

OUR AGM

We are looking forward to meeting our members at the AGM on Tuesday 12 December in Hull Guildhall.  The meeting starts at 5.45 pm but food and drink is available from 5.15 pm.  It promises to be an interesting meeting as we have lots to tell you about our action-packed year as well as our exciting plans for 2018.   We promise there won’t be any long speeches but we are thrilled that Aidene Walsh of the Fairbanking Foundation is coming to say a few words about our award of a 5-star Fairbanking Mark which was obviously one of the highspots of our 2017.

Our Annual Newsletter and Report & Accounts are now on our website for you to and we will shortly post details of the candidates nominated for the Board of Directors so that you can read about them ahead of the meeting if you wish.   If you are unable to come to the meeting but would like to email a question on the report, we’ll try to have it answered at the meeting and then forward a reply to you.

RECORD CHRISTMAS SAVINGS

It’s been another record year for our Christmas Saver account.  Members accumulated just over £700,000 by 1^st November, the date when the funds were unlocked for withdrawal.   All branches increased their festive savers this year but I want to make particular mention of our newest contact points – Howden and Hemingbrough – where, despite us only opening in June and September respectively, the savvy-saving residents managed to amass £4,634 towards Christmas, and earn themselves £1,450 in bonuses thanks to our Shop the Sharks Campaign!

While browsing a well-known bookshop the other day I was fascinated to find a paperback called Me Sannies are Brannies by John Brien.   It lists all the words and phrases that Hull folk use that are unique to the city, you know, like “mama mia” (here I am, mother) and “goin’ on rerd (going shopping).  It even mentioned Didlums – the informal savings clubs often run by work mates or neighbours Hull people use to save up for Christmas.  Here at HEY-CU we must surely be running the biggest Didlum in the City – our Christmas Saver account!   It’s probably the safest one as well, because it’s entirely protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, unlike those informal ones.   If you haven’t joined yet, why not give it a try and aim for a stress-free Christmas 2018.   I can see all you non-Hullites wondering: Me Sannies are Brannies?  - My sand shoes (gym shoes) are brand new.

LOANS GALORE

We’re very delighted that more and more people are discovering that our Credit Union Loan offers a great way to spread the cost whether it’s for Christmas treats, replacement domestic items, a new car, home improvements, a holiday, a special family celebration or whatever.  Since the morning BBC TV series featured credit unions a few weeks back, footfall in our branches has been higher than ever, and our loans are up 35% compared to the same period last year.  Our Child Benefit Loan and Savings Plan has taken off in a big way – check it out on our website – while, for our payroll members, our Flexi-Credit product is proving highly popular.    

During October and November we experimented with Saturday opening at our main Brook Street branch and there was a good response.  We will be evaluating the results shortly to see if this is something that would be worth repeating.

There’s still time to apply for a CU Loan for Christmas but don’t leave it too long!

DRIFFIELD CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL AND LIGHT SWITCH ON

If you’re out and about in Driffield on Friday 1^st December the chances are you’ll meet our pennywise friend, Penny the penguin!   She’ll be helping our volunteers on the Credit Union stall at Driffield’s Christmas Market, which starts at 2 pm and lasts until 8 pm.  The festive fun takes place in the Market Place, with the big switch on at 7 pm. There’ll be lots of gift ideas, music and street entertainment, a family fun fair, tombola, hog roast and a chance to see Santa on his sparkling sleigh.  Talking of gift ideas, why not open a First Saver account for the special children in your life; you’ll be setting them up for a bright financial future?

OUR GOOLE TOY APPEAL

We’re proud to be supporting the Our Goole Christmas Toy Appeal, which distributes gifts to local families who need a bit of support. Anyone wishing to donate may drop off new unwrapped gifts at our Goole branch, 22 Pasture Road on Mondays, Tuesdays or Fridays from 10 am to 2 pm.  Let’s make their Christmas a special one.

MEMBERS’ LOTTERY

Those Credit Union Friendly Folk who run our monthly Members’ Lottery have issued their Annual Report and Accounts which make interesting reading.  During the year to 30 September 2017 they sold 12,371 Lottery tickets and paid out prizes worth £7,278 (58%).  They again donated £5,000 to our Credit Union to support our training, marketing and postage costs.  We are most grateful to the Hull Branch of UNISON, the public service union, for becoming our main Lottery sponsor for 2017-19, which means more prizes for our members each month. 

We’re keen to find more sponsors to help swell the prize fund.  Organisations who become Lottery sponsors get great publicity in our newsletters, on social media and the branch TV screens, which are seen by thousands of members.  If your organisation would like to support us, do please get in touch.

DEMENTIA FRIENDS

Our staff team had an interesting talk by one of the Dementia Friends Champions, a trained volunteer from the Alzheimer’s Society.  We wanted to understand more about dementia so that we can better help members with the condition when they visit or call us on the phone.  We learnt five important things about dementia:

·        It’s not a natural part of ageing;

·        It’s caused by diseases of the brain;

·        It’s not just about losing your memory, it can affect thinking, communicating and doing everyday tasks;

·        It is possible to live well with dementia; and

·        There’s more to a person than dementia.  With support, people with dementia can and do take an active role in life.

Hopefully, by becoming Dementia Friends we can play a small part in helping to build more dementia-friendly communities.  If you need support or advice about dementia, visit alzheimers.org.uk or contact the National Dementia Helpline on 0300 222 1122.  To enquire about becoming a Dementia Friend, email dementiafriends@alzheimers.org.uk or call 0845 306 0898.

CREDIT UNION ARCHIVE

One of our active volunteers suggested that, now HEY-CU has passed its 18^th anniversary, it could be time to set up an archive to ensure our proud history is properly recorded for the benefit of future generations.   We are required by law to keep minutes of our board and committee meetings of course, and we have a full set of annual reports, but also over the years we’ve amassed a range of artefacts such as City of Hull Credit Union mugs, pens, coasters, rulers, shopping bags, membership cards and printed material of every kind.  We’ve also won one or two awards and trophies along the way which would look very splendid in a display case.   If anyone is interested in helping us to celebrate our history, has any expertise in this area, or any relevant items they’d like to donate to a HEY-CU archive, do please get in touch!

TAKE FIVE – TO STOP FRAUD

We are always anxious to help our members to stay safe and avoid becoming victims of financial fraud.  That’s why we’re supporting Take Five – a national campaign led by Financial Fraud Action and backed by HM Government, that offers straightforward and impartial advice to help everyone stay clear of preventable financial fraud.

Many of us think we’d never fall for a fraudulent text or email, but criminals are more sophisticated than ever.  Take a test to see if you can spot the fraud and know when it’s time to say ‘My money? My info? I don’t think so’.

It’s worth remembering, your bank, credit union or the police will never:

·        phone and ask you for your PIN or full banking password, even by tapping them into your phone keypad;

·        ask you to withdraw money to hand over to them for safe-keeping;

·        ask you to transfer money to a safe account for fraud reasons, even if they say the account is in your name;

·        send someone to your home to collect cash, PIN, cards or cheque books if you are a victim of fraud;

·        ask you to purchase goods using your card and then hand them over for safe-keeping.

FESTIVE OPENING TIMES

As Santa and his helpers prepare to make their deliveries, here at HEY-CU the seasonal work of our staff and volunteer team will be almost done, and we’ll be ready for a little rest.  So, some of our branches will have different opening times between 18 December and 2 January.  Check out here when your branch will be open.  Our phone lines will open the same days as Hull Central branch.

Everyone at HEY-CU sends seasonal greetings and wishes all friends a happy, healthy and prosperous 2018.

JOHN’S BLOG – FEBRUARY 2017

February was another hectic month for our credit union.  As well as welcoming 200 new members and junior savers into our “family” we also forged some exciting new partnerships:

FAIRBANKING FOUNDATION HIGHLIGHTS “SAVE AS YOU BORROW”

I was interested to learn that the Fairbanking Foundation has launched a new report titled Save as You Borrow – Credit Unions Creating Good Habits.  Using research by Ipsos MORI into the behaviour of 1,200 borrowers from seven different credit unions, it shows how credit unions turn borrowers into savers.

Apparently two-thirds of the borrowers surveyed had no savings when they first took out a credit union loan, and had found it impossible to put money aside.   But as a result of using a Save As You Borrow credit union product, they now planned on saving regularly.

The positive long term impact of Save As You Borrow is underlined by the fact that only a quarter of respondents were saving regularly before taking out their credit union loan, but 71% said they would continue to do so after paying it back.

The report also shows how the credit union approach - helping people to budget and assisting people who have problems - breeds strong loyalty to the credit union among its members.

It is a very valuable report as it demonstrates the benefit of supporting and partnering with credit unions - particularly for employers, since the creation of a savings culture is the best defence against problem debt.   Here at HEYCU we are always pleased to talk with any employers who may be interested in working with us to provide their workforce with a really powerful staff benefit – savings and loans by payroll deduction.

NEW DWP WORKPLACE CHAMPIONS RECRUITED

Our Payroll Partnership with the Department for Work & Pensions is a good example of what can be achieved.  In just eight months, we’ve recruited over 800 members to HEYCU from the DWP staff across Yorkshire, the North East and in Scotland.   As well as saving regularly with us direct from their pay, many of these new members have discovered our highly competitive loan deals.

We had a great response to a recent Newsletter that we sent to our DWP members, and were thrilled to recruit six new Workplace Champions.   Our Champions are members who agree to post credit union recruitment material on the workplace notice boards, and to “talk us up” among their workmates. 

A phone call to welcome our new Champions often reveals some interesting stories.  Lynsey, who works at the DWP in Clydebank, told me that her parents – Pat and Agnes McGowan - had both been active in credit unions:  “I actually grew up in and around credit unions as my parents helped to set up and run Tail O’the Bank Credit Union in Greenock for 25 years.  My dad was the chairman and my mum the treasurer and as a child I was often taken along to ABCUL AGM’s and many credit union events!”  Lynsey said she was excited about being part of the credit union movement within the DWP and looking forward to updating her knowledge and spreading the word.  I hope to visit your office next time I am in the area, Lynsey.

LLOYDS BANKING GROUP DEVELOPMENT FUND

Again on the partnerships theme, we were very pleased to be one of 21 credit unions to be awarded a grant from the Lloyds Banking Group Development Fund, to support our future growth. 

As part of its commitment to Helping Britain Prosper, Lloyds Banking Group have awarded a further £1 million in grants to strengthen the financial position of credit unions and give them the capacity to develop new ways to grow, become sustainable and provide extra much-needed responsible lending to communities across Britain.  The Fund was established in 2014 and is run in partnership with the Credit Union Foundation.  Award recipients are selected by an independent grants panel.

Together with Sue Nicholson, one of HEYCU’s Directors, I went to the Houses of Parliament to receive our award, which will help our credit union to expand our services to more communities in the Humber Region as well as serve more employers and their staff. 

It was good to meet Robin Bulloch, Managing Director of Lloyds Bank & Bank of Scotland, at the event to give us the chance to say “thank you” for our award, also to catch up with Mark Yarwood, our regional Lloyds contact and guests from other credit unions.   We were thrilled that our local MPs Nic Dakin, Karl Turner and Martin Vickers popped in to see us in the impressive setting of Westminster.

RURAL AREA PROJECT SET TO BEGIN

We have started work on a new partnership with the Goole & Selby Methodist Circuit to extend our reach to people living in the rural area between the two towns.  To begin with, we are focusing on the communities of Hemingbrough and Howden, aiming to show how credit union membership and services help to support family life.  So, watch out for us popping up at playgroups, children’s centres, schools, sports clubs, community centres, libraries, surgeries, in fact anywhere that families spend their time.   Jo, our energetic Goole Development Officer, will be working on the project and we’ll be looking to recruit some volunteers to help us spread the word and assist with running savings clubs and credit union contact points in those communities.   If you would like to help, please get in touch.

LOAN SHARKS CAMPAIGN HITS HOME

Our campaign, working with the Illegal Money Lending Team, to warn about the dangers posed by loan sharks (illegal lenders) and to make people aware of responsible lending alternatives, has really made an impact.   Our original target was to encourage 50 people to either start saving with us or (if already members) to open another account such as a Christmas or Holiday Saver or an account for a Junior.  However, we seem to have considerably exceeded that figure and very soon lots of members in the Goole and Greatfield areas who sent in Shop the Shark vouchers will have £25 bonuses credited to their savings account!

Sid the (friendly) Shark caused quite a stir when he put in anappearance at a special assembly at Boothferry Primary School and went walkabout at Greatfield Shopping Centre and in a large Tesco store. Our current campaign concludes with a children’s poster colouring competition with some exciting shark-related prizes!  We are pleased that the Team’s hard work is paying off, as there have been several loan sharks prosecuted around the country recently,   which is great news for those communities.

As the campaign has been so popular, and the message about avoiding loan sharks is clearly hitting home, it won’t be the last we have seen of Sid the Shark, so watch for him coming to your area in the future. 

NEW PARTNERS

We’d like to say a big “welcome” to Acre Heads Primary School at Anlaby, the latest school in our area to open a Pennies 2 Pounds school bank for the children and families in the area.  It got off to a promising start in 28 February and runs every Tuesday morning before the school day begins.

It was also a pleasure to run a member recruitment session at East Riding College in Beverley for the staff based there.  The new Flemingate campus is a wonderful building and the huge foyer and café area proved an ideal busy location for our promotional stand.   Welcome to the new members who joined – and don’t forget to urge your colleagues to do the same!

OPPORTUNITIES IN NORTH EAST LINCOLNSHIRE

I spent an interesting day in Grimsby recently with Steve Johnston, who is employed as a Partnership Officer to look for opportunities for credit union development in the area.  The local credit union (not part of HEYCU) unfortunately closed down in 2016 but its services are much missed by the population.  Steve is helping us to devise a plan to work with the community to develop a sustainable credit union presence for North East Lincolnshire.  

I was very impressed with Centre4, a community building on the Nunsthorpe housing estate, which houses an amazing variety of services all under one roof.  With a trained volunteer team, it would be possible to run a regular contact point there, to provide safe savings and responsible loans for the local community.   We’re keen to hear from anyone who would be interested in helping us, or supporting us with resources.

ARE YOU IN OUR MEMBERS’ LOTTERY?

Are you a member of our fantastic Members’ Lottery?   Our Lottery, which is exclusively for members of HEYCU, has been run since 2001 by a group called HEYCU Friendly Folk.  Members can enrol for up to ten tickets in our monthly draw, with the price of each ticket – just £1 – being drawn from their Membership Account each month until they give notice to stop.

The Lottery is drawn on the second Wednesday of every month.  Over £500 in prizes are awarded, plus a triple draw at Christmas time.  Winners are notified by post but we also post a list on our website and social media and on screens or posters in branch.

At least 60% of the ticket sales are distributed in prizes with the remaining proceeds used to support credit union development, advertising and training activities.

If you haven’t joined our Lottery yet, what are you waiting for?   The more members who join, the bigger and better prizes we will be able to award.   To join, simply call the office for an application form or download one from our website and send it in.  You’ll be in the next available draw and, just think, it could be your ticket that wins the top prize!

AUGUSTA METRO FEDERAL CREDIT UNION

Finally, I’d like to mention our partner credit union in the USA – Augusta Metro Federal CU – whose 22,000 members have just voted to merge with PenFed CU of Tysons, Va, America’s second largest federal credit union.

In the States, the size of credit unions is simply breath-taking compared with the UK.  Augusta Metro members will be joining a CU with 1.5 million members and assets of more than 21 billion dollars!  They will enjoy access to loans, mortgages, credit cards and savings products with nation-leading rates and the financial security of a larger group. 

Established in 1935, PenFed CU has done well to build a great range of benefits for their mass membership.  But, as someone whose career has experienced several co-operative mergers, I was equally encouraged to hear of their care and concern for their people.  “We worked very closely with Augusta Metro’s Board to make sure we could deliver PenFed’s powerful credit union experience and add value to its members while taking perfect care of its hard-working staff,” said their Executive Vice President Shashi Vohra. “Providing opportunities for career advancement and improved benefits to employees is one of the hallmarks of our partnerships. The staff takes care of our members and we take care of them.”
Everyone at HEYCU sends best wishes to our friends at Augusta Metro for a successful merger, which is scheduled to take effect in June.

CHILD BENEFIT LOAN & SAVINGS PLAN

Have you read about our latest product? For families receiving Child Benefit, it offers a fantastic way to make the most of your money.  Having Child Benefit paid directly into a HEYCU Membership Account can give access to an affordable credit union loan of up to £500, a safe way to save up for Christmas, holidays, school uniforms and equipment, and the convenience of an Engage VISA debit card for shopping and online purchases.