What Is the Southway Affordable Loan Scheme?
We have worked closely with Southway Housing for a long time, and this scheme has proven to be a clear success for their tenants. A former pioneer at the local housing providers Financial Inclusion Group, Elaine Wilkinson, dreamed up the idea for the scheme. Tenants can borrow up to £300 and repay the loan in full before applying again, encouraging healthy money habits in tenants. This scheme has proved a great way for members to find a credit union and build a good savings habit.
In the last 10 years, we have lent over 2000 loans from the scheme, out to our members with a value of over £570,000. Looking at these numbers closely we can see the positive impact this safe line of credit has on local people – everything from new washing machines to birthday parties and car repairs.
Marking the achievement at Fog Lane
We couldn’t let a 10-year milestone go by without honouring the occasion. That is why we got together with Southway and invited our members to join us on Fog Lane for food and a nice chat; while we looked back on all the hard work achieved in the last decade.
To share the good feeling, members in the scheme were entered into a prize draw, the two winning members had their loans paid off in full. Susan, one of the winners, told us that she was shocked as she had never won anything before whereas Jade our second winner had won a previous competition, we held last year – what are the chances!
We would like to thank them for coming down to Fog Lane and taking part in the moment, our members are at the heart of everything we do and without them there would be no celebration.
Here take a look at some of the photos from the day
Looking towards the future
As we step forward into the future together, we will continue to provide financial support to all members of our local community and the Southway Loan will remain a helping hand for Southway tenants. If you are a Southway tenant and are not yet a member here, you can join today and access our range of loans and savings accounts.
