How Enterprise Credit Union Helped Members Cover the Cost of Christmas

Friday 26 January 2024

Christmas put extra pressure across communities in the country, but thousands of people who are members of their local credit union, were supported to spread the cost of increasing pressures on household finances and the expensive festive period.

Elle Forrester, a 25-year-old social work student, and her partner, Sean, a self-employed roofer, are one such family. The couple had a baby last year, so they have had to pay for all the necessary baby paraphernalia, on top of nursery fees for the times that Elle is studying at university.

Faced with the cost of Christmas on top of the couple’s already stretched finances, Elle turned to Enterprise Credit Union (ECU) for support.

With Christmas looming, Elle borrowed £740 from ECU. She was worried that Christmas would be a struggle this year, especially as her universal credit payments have been reduced since starting university because of her student loan.

Earlier in 2022, Elle took out a loan from ECU to pay for her son’s party and is now making payments of £60 a month. Around half of this is going towards repaying her loan and the rest is put into a savings account.

Elle is using the credit union to build up her savings, which she could then dip into if she’s faced with an emergency expense in the future.

“I’ve hardly got any savings but I’m building them up slowly with the credit union by running a monthly direct debit into the account,” Elle explains.

“I’m going to keep saving throughout the next year as it gives me a buffer, as well as the peace of mind that if there’s an unexpected expense, I should be able to get an affordable loan to cover it.”

Elle praises the service offered by the credit union, saying: “The credit union staff are amazing. They are only focused on what’s right for me because they’re not there to make money out of you as credit unions are not-for-profit.”