A.G.M.
Our Annual General Meeting will be held on
Wednesday 28th April 2010 at 5.30pm
in the Medlock Suite
Town Hall
Market Place
Ashton-under-Lyne
OL6 6DL
ALL MEMBERS ARE INVITED TO ATTEND
What is a credit union?
A credit union is a financial co-operative, a form of community bank that is owned and managed by its members. Every credit union’s membership criteria is based on something the members have in common. This is called the ‘Common Bond’ and ours is that all members live or work in Tameside.
Credit unions are a development of the co-operative movement that started in Lancashire in the 1850s. The idea caught on and the credit union movement spread around the world. They have been in the UK since 1960 and there are now around 500 with over 250,000 members. Worldwide there are over 90 million members in 71,000 credit unions.
All credit unions in England are registered with, regulated by and report to the Financial Services Authority. They are also members of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme and are fidelity bonded so members’ savings are protected.
A credit union is not a profit-making organisation, but like any company it has a board of directors. The difference is that our Board is elected from the membership and our directors are volunteers. Members use their credit union as a safe and secure place to make savings, which are known as shares. This creates a pool of funds from which members can then apply to borrow. The interest that borrowers pay is the credit union’s income and operating costs are paid out of this. When we make a surplus this is distributed back to the members in the form of a dividend on their savings.
Tameside’s Best kept Secret
If you have not have heard about Cash Box you could be surprised to learn that it was founded in 2004 when five smaller credit unions merged to create one that could be used by anyone who either lives or works in Tameside.
More than 2000 adults and over 300 young people now have shares in Cash Box, and their current total share balance stands at well over £1 million.
Currently there are Collection Points at Ashton, Hyde & Denton Town Halls (with the support of Tameside MBC) and Haughton Green Community Centre. We are planning to open additional collection points around Tameside soon.