As a community credit union, we exist to support our members, however, our members also support us. By saving in the credit union, you are directly creating a social impact and allowing us to continue to improve the financial well-being of our local community. A member who knows this all too well is Sandy; she is an active member of the community and joined us for ethical reasons.
Sandy's introduction to the credit union
Sandy was faced with grief at a young age, as her parents passed away while she was in her mid-20s. Unexpectedly, she inherited some money and needed to figure out the best place to save it. We are glad she came across credit unions through Ethical Consumer magazine. Seeing that her values aligned well with ours she was intrigued and wanted to find out if there was a credit union near her. That’s when she found South Manchester Credit Union – hello Sandy!
Why did Sandy want to create social impact with us?
We asked Sandy why she chose to save with us instead of elsewhere, she told us “Because the money was unexpected, I didn’t have any plans for it. I just really wanted it to be doing something useful and saved somewhere ethical. So, when I read about credit unions and learned that the money will be used to lend to other people in the community, I thought it was a really good idea”.
When Sandy came through as a new member she felt “confident that it was going to be a good decision, and it was quite easy to do as well”. We are always glad to hear that a member feels confident on the way in.
For Sandy the benefit of being a member has got to be, being engaged in the community. “I really love where I live, I really love Manchester generally, and knowing this is an organisation that is serving the community – I do a lot of volunteer work and I work at a nonprofit, it is very much my values”
How Sandy's value of social impact have evolved
It was established that our values were interlinked, however, we wanted to know a bit about why Sandy held these values.
“As I’ve gotten a little bit older, I am just trying to make decisions that take into consideration not just my needs but other people’s needs and the needs of my community”
We recognise that there are a lot of members of our community who feel the same way as Sandy, the trouble often is finding the opportunity to create local social impact. This is why we asked Sandy to share her advice for someone wanting to make socially conscious decisions.
“It’s about looking at what you have control over, and what you can influence. I think where you spend your money is a big part and how you use your money. Supporting local businesses is something people got behind during COVID, people think of this as just spending at a local business, but it could also be saving at a credit union.”
“There are national charities and global charities, but also remember to look close to home, at what’s going on in your local area and how you can support.”
Sandy would love to see everyone join their local credit union
Going forward Sandy would love to see everyone a member of their local credit union, including you!
“Taking ownership of things for ourselves as people is something I believe in” – as ever, very powerful words from Sandy.
At South Manchester Credit Union, we are a member-owned cooperative. We are here for the benefit of our members and our local community. If you want to join today and create social impact all you have to do is live or work in South and Central Manchester. Once you join you can start saving straight away – find out more here.
