Member Article

Member News: Re. Almost half the North East population are worried about their debts

Tees Credit Union – The Communities’ Bank

Speaking at the World Credit Union Conference in Glasgow, held on the 25th July 2011, to an audience of 1400 people Ex-Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: “We have seen the biggest financial crisis of our history which was caused by the banks forgetting the basic values of fairness and responsibility which we all adhere to as a matter of course in our personal and professional lives. Credit unions, which have already seen fantastic growth in recent years, are faced with enormous opportunities because they are based on fundamental values of fairness and responsibility…”

Credit unions let people in local communities, workplaces or other organisations with a ‘common bond’ save and borrow money. They are owned and controlled by their members and are run by volunteer directors elected by their membership. Any profit that a credit union makes is used to develop the credit union and provides a return, or dividend, to savers.

Diane Patterson, the manager of Tees Credit Union based in Stocktonsaid, “credit unions are organisations that exist to keep locally generated cash within local economies by encouraging members to save and take on affordable and manageable loans. We see ourselves very much as the Communities’ Bank”.

Mark Hoban MP, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, recently said, “This Government believes that strong credit unions will greatly enrich British society, so it is in our interest to do whatever we can to help the credit union movement to prosper.“

Tees Credit Union recently appointed a Development Officer, Adrian Beadnell, with the remit of increasing public awareness regarding the services provided by the Union and with expanding its membership to people living or working in the Stockton area. He said, “We now need to expand our services to a much wider market, across the whole of Stockton, and we’re in a process of re-branding our image as ’Your Community Bank’ in order to attract more customers. Our main function is to provide an ethical, owned by and responsible to its members, alternative to commercial providers by proving both savings and loan facilities at fair rates to out members.__“

Tees Credit Union currently offers the following products to its members:

• Savings Accounts, including Payroll Deductions
• Direct Debits/Standing Order Facilities
• Bill Paying Budget Account
• Loans
• Prepaid Cards
• Family Funeral Plan
• Co-op Electrical Goods

Future strategy includes:

• Increased member/customer numbers
• New financial products, e.g. Insurance cover including home contents and roadside recovery
• Attracting addition good quality volunteers
• Attracting additional directors
• Better central office and workspace facilities
• Greater partnership working, e.g. mobile ‘Community Bank’ and financial advice ‘One-Stop-Bus’

Ends

Diane/Adrian can be contacted on 01642 753513 or manager@teescreditunion.co.uk

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Adrian Beadnell .