Community Grant Fund to Support Wiltshire & Swindon Credit Union

Thursday 25 January 2024

Wiltshire and Swindon Credit Union has been awarded a £5,000 community grant to invest in a new system that will allow it to expand its membership and introduce new technology to make saving easier.

“Having this grant will make a huge difference to us and we are very grateful”, says Chair of the credit union, Nick Gallop. “It means we can get on with replacing our current IT much more quickly. Not having the grant would have slowed us down considerably.”

The grant comes at a time when the credit union, which lends around £1 million a year to 2,500 active members, is seeing a steady rise in demand, with a 30 percent increase in lending in the last year. Members open savings accounts and, provided they meet loan criteria, can take out loans

Its most popular product is its Family Loan, which allows members to have their Child Benefit paid into their savings account. The credit union wants to offer the same service to recipients of Universal Credit, but needs a better system to do so.

Nick added: “Family Loans are mostly to women because they are usually who the Child Benefit goes to. By expanding the service to Universal Credit we can lend to men and women equally, expand our audience and serve a much bigger proportion of the population.”

He added that the loans were a vital lifeline to families faced with an emergency and no other means of raising the money, Nick said: “We are the alternative. This is a fair loan for those who have few alternatives, such as illegal loan sharks with an unlimited interest rate,  a pay day lender where the interest is up to 1,000%, or a hire purchase scheme where you are paying 150% interest.”

Nick believes the cost-of-living crisis facing families on low incomes is forcing it to take fewer risks when approving loans. He added: “When we get an application, we ask people what they pay for gas, electricity and rent; but obviously they tell us what they are paying now, not what they’ll be paying in the summer so we are having to be more cautious.

“But we want to help more people if we can. For people facing an emergency we see ourselves as the last good resort.”

Wiltshire Community Foundation joint chief executive Fiona Oliver said: “The generosity of our donors allows us to fund work like this. We are delighted that the grant is going to make a difference to many people on low incomes who need to raise money for unexpected, like replacing a washing machine, repairing their car or buying school uniform.”

Source – Swindon Link