Credit Union Pioneers Celebrated at Save & Sound Event

Thursday 25 January 2024

Over 30 people credit union professionals from across the North of England, attended a special event to celebrate the Credit Union Foundation’s ‘Save and Sound’ history project.

The Credit Union Foundation has been running the Save and Sound project, which is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund. It has been working to collect and preserve the memories of people who set up and ran credit unions in the North of England before 2000.

It will collect 40 oral histories from credit union pioneers across the north of England.    The interviews will become part of the national oral history collection cared for by the British Library where they will be available to generations of researchers.

Attendees were welcomed by ABCUL CEO, Robert Kelly who said: “Save and Sound will help many people learn about the history and heritage of British credit unions for many years to come. I’m incredibly proud of the project’s volunteers who have paid great recognition to the pioneers of the movement, who built the foundations of what are movement is all about – people helping people”

Commenting on the success of the project, Chair of the Credit Union Foundation, Lord Roy Kennedy of Southwark said: “The Credit Union Foundation is proud to have been entrusted with this important project. It is because of the commitment and enthusiasm of our credit union pioneers that communities and workplaces can now access safe savings and affordable credit.  Save and Sound will ensure that their efforts are not forgotten.”

Next month, at the ABCUL Annual Conference, delegates will be able to attend a special plenary session which will focus on the success of the program and what comes next. The project is also developing a new website that will host clips, photos and other material from credit unions.