Haringey Council support for Credit Union

Martin Groombridge, Manager of the Haringey, Islington and City Credit Union.
Picture from Islington Gazette

Haringey Council for a £750,000 loan to the local credit union.

Haringey will offer the Haringey, Islington and City Credit Union an initial loan of £250,000 and hopes to follow this up with further investment of up to £500,000 depending on targets being met.

The agreement could see more than 1,600 Haringey households become members of the Credit Union.

It will also allow the credit union to expand its outreach work to make more people aware of the alternative to expensive payday loan companies – with more than 10 already operating in Tottenham and Wood Green.

Cllr Alan Strickland, Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Social Inclusion, said: “Payday loan companies – some of which charge annual interest rates in excess of 4,000 per cent – target the most defenceless. Their growth is a great threat to financially vulnerable residents and damages the vibrancy of our high streets.

“We are determined to show people that there is an alternative. We’re proud to back the Credit Union to help to protect residents from a spiral of ever-increasing debt and support them instead into the habit of saving.”

Website: www.credit-union.coop