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Brighton Hove City Councillors pass motion to support local credit union

In a meeting between local Councillors for Brighton & Hove City Council, local Councillor, Jackie O’Quinn spoke of the need for the Council to encourage its staff to make the most of the Chorus Workplace Savings Scheme offered by East Sussex Credit Union (ESCU). Chorus is the workplace savings scheme from ESCU to enable staff to save money or make loan repayments directly from their wages.

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Tuesday 23 January 2024

In a meeting between local Councillors for Brighton & Hove City Council, local Councillor, Jackie O’Quinn spoke of the need for the Council to encourage its staff to make the most of the Chorus Workplace Savings Scheme offered by East Sussex Credit Union (ESCU). Chorus is the workplace savings scheme from ESCU to enable staff to save money or make loan repayments directly from their wages.

“It is increasingly clear that the financial impact of Coronavirus has driven home that the ‘living for today’ attitude is great, but what happens when tomorrow does come? Are you still able to fulfill your obligations? Are you able to do the things you love with your friends and family?” says Councilor O’Quinn in her speech to the Council. “ For many the answer to that will be no as they may have lost their job and facing severe economic hardship, but for those who still have a job the pandemic appears to have brought savings sharply back into focus and one estimate suggests that almost 60% of people have managed to save some cash during lockdown.

“Some people have been saving during the pandemic and begun to realise that saving is possible for them. This is an ideal time for people to look at joining a credit union and better, encouraging people to do it via a workplace saving scheme.

“It is vital that the Council officers work with ESCU to inform council workers of the scheme and its benefits and as many opportunities to do this as possible should be offered. Let’s encourage people to start saving for the new and unseen future that awaits us.”

Ann Hickey, CEO of ESCU said: “We greatly welcome the active support of the council for our workplace savings scheme to encourage staff to start saving with us straight from their wages. At a time when one in six people have no savings at all, our workplace savings scheme offers workers a simple, easy way to save regularly with their local, ethical credit union.”

ESCU runs Chorus Workplace Savings Schemes with BHCC and many other employers in the city including Brighton & Hove Buses, Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals, NHS Trust, NSL Services and Brighton Housing Trust.

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