Kingston Savers

Kingston Voluntary Action is supporting the project to set up a credit union for Kingston.

Starting from scratch - a volunteers run project - Kingston Savers is the officially recognised vehicle to secure the services of a credit union for the people of the Royal Borough of Kingston. The need for one locally has always existed; the recent economic downturn has simply heightened the requirement to get the process rolling.

What makes a credit union?

There are over 600 credit unions in the UK, serving over 500,000 members. As co-operatives, they operate differently to banks; they do not have outside shareholders and do not pay large bonuses to directors. As part of their local community, credit unions harness their members' savings to provide affordable loans to other members of the co-operative.

A credit union makes loan decisions purely on ability to repay, not on previous credit history or banking industry-wide credit ratings. This means that its loans are accessible to all people, including those on low incomes or who may have had financial problems in the past.

They also provide support and advice to people facing debt problems, and budgeting advice on how to escape from problem debt. As a not-for-profit co-operative, it has a different set of values and principles to most of the financial services industry.

How can you help?

The road from enthusiasm to the full range of credit union services being accessed will be a complex one, but already we are gratified by the support locally. We see the voluntary and community groups of Kingston as natural allies in our quest to serve the financially-excluded and to promote ethical banking.

You can help by offering your organisation's support as a stakeholder sponsor (no monies are required at this stage) or by individually signing up as a potential member of Kingston Savers when the time to turn into a fully fledged credit union is right.