Pennine Community Credit Union Celebrates Four Decades of Ethical Loans in Burnley

Thursday 25 January 2024

Pennine Community Credit Union (PCCU) account holders attended the first hybrid AGM, which allowed account holders to participate virtually or in-person at Burnley Football Club’s 1882 lounge to vote in favour of providing the charitable donations to much-needed organisations still struggling with raising funds due to coronavirus restrictions over the last two years.

PCCU from three branches in Nelson, Colne and Burnley donated £2,500 to both Building Bridges and St Peter’s Church Burnley in memory of Peter Pike. The former Burnley MP was a longstanding Board member of the credit union, first pioneering the formation of the Burnley Area Credit Union and then being instrumental in the merger with the Pendle Credit Union to offer more services to residents in the local community in 2013 when Pennine was formed.

The Leader of Burnley Council and Chair of Building Bridges Burnley, Councillor Afrasiab Anwar gave a well-received keynote speech explaining the work the organisation does and the involvement of Peter Pike

Councillor Afrasiab said: “Building Bridge Burnley operates to bring the community together, to learn from each other, especially through faith and interfaith activities. It allows people to learn about other cultures and be comfortable within their own culture. I met Peter Pike through community groups like Building Bridges, he became a colleague, friend and confidant. Peter was committed to organisations like PCCU and Building Bridges but importantly to the communities we operate in.

“It is an honour to continue working with organisations that he supported. I’d like to congratulate PCCU for operating for over 40 years but also to thank you for the service you have provided to our communities. The work that you do is invaluable.”

PCCU recently expanded to provide ethical savings accounts and affordable loans to communities across East Lancashire and Cumbria. Those in attendance heard how the credit union proposed to support 16 organisations across the areas it provides services including Pendle Samaritans, Colne Youth Action Group, Thomas rehabilitation Blackburn, The St Vincent de Paul Society, The Good Life Project, Georgia Fourie Butterfly Fund, Pendle Voice, Colne under 13’s Football Team, Barnoldswick and Earby Bosom Friends Cancer Support Group, Pendle Dogs in Need, The Food Pantry in Cleator Moor and The Lake District Search and Mountain Rescue Association.

Emma Ibbetson from Elisha House, Colne explained how the £1000 donation would assist the recovery programme for their residents with a history of substance abuse.  Emma said: “Thank you PCCU for the very generous donation. As a community interest company, we are a not-for-profit and every penny goes back into the project to help as many people as possible. This donation will be used to buy recording equipment to document the resident’s journeys, offering testimonials and hope for those waiting to join the programme.”

Whilst Christina Cope, Development Officer at Gawthorpe Textiles Collection, founded by Rachel Kay-Shuttleworth in 1959, highlighted how the donation would be used by their charity. Christina said: “On behalf of everyone at GTC and the participants of our Community Outreach projects I would like to thank the members of Pennine Community Credit Union for their very generous donation of £1000.  I really enjoyed attending the AGM and it was a great opportunity for me to explain about our charity and how we use the collection through exhibitions, artist collaborations, workshops, talks, tours, research, and study visits. We offer activities at Gawthorpe Hall and community outreach through Valley Street Textiles Studio, Burnley (which is a joint initiative with Calico Homes). Donations such as this enable us to continue caring for the collection for future generations”

It was also announced at the AGM that savers would benefit from a 1.5% dividend on savings due to another year of growth, whilst borrowers would be rewarded with a loan rebate of 10%. Over the past year, the credit union had increased savings from £9.9m to £12.7m, whilst the number of affordable loans provided to members of the community had also increased by 21%.

PCCU President, Gerard Spain was enthusiastic about the performance of the credit union over the last year and optimistic about the future. Gerard said: “It has been another successful year for PCCU. The growth we have seen shows that there is a real need for credit union services in the communities we serve. As we enter our 40th year we will be giving our account holders back £340,000 in dividends and loan rebate.

“The 1.5% compares very favourably with any instant access savings accounts on the market. As well as the increased dividend, the £19,000 charitable donations re-enforces our commitment to benefit not only our account holders but the wider communities we operates in.”