WITH the Archbishop of Canterbury criticising ‘payday’ loan companies recently, the spotlight has been firmly put on a local community alternative, credit unions.
And here in Melksham, the town has its own credit union facility, which is available from The Library every week.
While payday and similar lenders offer short-term loans, often with a extremely high rates of interest, credit unions instead give people the chance to borrow money at competitive rates as well as to save ethically.
Recently, the Archbishop of Canterbury, The Most Reverend Justin Welby, declared war on online and payday lenders, saying the Church of England would help credit unions to expand and compete head on against payday lenders
He was later embarrassed to learn that the Church of England invests indirectly in online lender Wonga, but was quick to point out that this was a situation which he would look to change.
There are three credit unions in Wiltshire, with the West Wiltshire Credit Union serving Melksham.
Sam Selman of the Melksham branch explains that the emphasis of credit unions is on saving, with the facility to borrow once you have been a member for a certain length of time.
He said, “We’re trying to encourage people to save a little. You can save all year for Christmas, for example, or if you save regularly, you can borrow. We want to help educate people about saving so that they can help themselves eventually. We want to change attitudes towards money and help people learn to prioritise how they are spending their money.
“We want to build up that trust with members so they know the service we are providing will be a massive benefit to them and help them turn their financial situation around and encourage good practices that they can use in the future.
“If a person comes in, and they say we want a loan, the first question we ask is do you have an account with us? We would welcome as many members as would like to join.
“We have had many success stories, where people have been at their lowest point when joining, and some time later, they have savings and are enjoying their life more.
“We have had great help from the local authorities who provide facilities for us to meet the public who need our service. We provide a great option for those in difficult times, although we would like to help people before it reaches the critical stage. We urge anybody concerned about their finances to come and see us and hopefully we can assist before things get worse.”
The credit union is held at Melksham Library on Fridays between 10.30am-1.00pm.
Credit unions are financial co-operatives, owned and democratically controlled by their members and run solely for the benefit of their members. explains the bank.
Members can save with West Wilts Credit Union and then apply for loans if neccessary.
A first loan is currently up to twice a member’s shares, with second and subsequent loans up to three times their shares.
For further information, call into Melksham Library or call the Melksham branch on 01225 704907.
