Pennine Community Credit Union celebrates 'excellent' financial year at AGM

Account holders gathered at Turf Moor where they witnessed two donations of £500 being made to Fiona and Dave King, representatives for BK’s Heroes, and David Thomas, representative from League of Voluntary Workers for the Burnley Hospitals.

BK’s Heroes, set up in memory of Mr and Mrs King's son, Ben, endeavours to find a cure for brain cancer and kidney disease.

The money contributed will be dedicated to research and helping support families on a similar journey.

Mr King said: “Thanks PCCU for having a great social connection within the community, Ben was born in this community and the charity was formed here, being run by local volunteers and family members.”

Mr Thomas praised PCCU “for doing such a fantastic job in the community, you have my full support”.

He explained the charitable donation made will be used to support staff and patients of Burnley General Hospital, by providing equipment and luxuries that the Health department’s budget cannot stretch to.

PCCU president Gerrard Spain reported 2019 as being a "launchpad year” due to the launch of the Family Loan and Saving Scheme which has allowed the not-for-profit financial co-operative to service a selection of the community it was previously unable to serve.

This has contributed hugely to the growth of the loan book and a 36% increase in membership.

He also spoke about the nexw Fixed Term Deposit Account, which he said, "offers a very competitive return of 2% AER on deposits between £5,000 and £85,000". This method of saving was launched in January and account holders have already deposited more than £2m.

The Credit Union membership agreed a dividend rate of 1% for both adult and junior divided, in addition to a 2% adult loan interest rebate. It was recognised to be well above the national average of 0.4% on easy access savings accounts.

Account holders then heard from Burnley MP Antony Higginbotham who said this was his first AGM as MP and added: “The growth of the Credit Union is a testament to the dedication of the staff and board of PCCU.”

The evening concluded with a speech from Robert Kelly, CEO of ABCUL, the governing body of Credit Unions, who said: “The recent ABCUL Town Hall consultations had four themes; Sustainability, Relevance, Collaboration and Purpose. I can tell you that PCCU is all of these.”