Take a bow Waterside Credit Union - Social Enterprise NI Credit Union 2022 award winner

It will come as no surprise to anyone in Derry that a local credit union has scooped a prestigious award.

Waterside Credit Union won the inaugural Credit Union award at the Social Enterprise NI awards in Belfast last Friday night, in the category for credit unions with under £40 million in assets.

Speaking to Derry News, a clearly delighted Roisin O’Reilly, manager of the prizewinning institution, said Waterside had had some strong competition from other credit unions.

She added: “We got the script back from Amanda Johnston who looks after the Social Enterprise awards’ ceremony. She said: ‘The category was very tough. The judges deliberated for a very long time. There were a lot of different opinions from the judges but they were so impressed by the real social impact we had in the community, especially because we are in a cost of living crisis.

“‘The judges wanted to reiterate how credit unions all showed real evidence of innovation but they were really impressed by the Waterside Credit Union support of their members through a difficult period, which was obviously during covid.’

“We streamlined all of our processes to make everything easier and quicker and more efficient for members. We enhanced our online services and we improved our marketing.

“We also have a team of dedicated staff, who were all called out as exemplary along with the board. Obviously we support a lot of local agencies through sponsorships and donations, so to win the award on that basis was really fantastic for us.”

Roisin said the Social Enterprise award was recognition of the fact Waterside Credit Union tried to give members back as much of their money as they put in through the fund it has available for sponsorship and donations.

“Waterside Credit Union has supported the Foyle Foodbank,” said Roisin. “We have also supported agencies like Foyle Women’s Aid AND HURT. We have sponsored football clubs and mental health charities and different things in different ways.

“We have been in the Waterside since 1964, so we are well established. We have weathered a few financial crises ourselves and it looks like we are going to have to support our members through another one.

“The award was also for the social impact that the credit union had. It is not just about coming in and getting a loan for a holiday, it is about the fact we will help people who have never saved to start saving. We will help people who are on low incomes to get a loan of say £500 to put down new carpet or do something to their house that they just would never be able to do otherwise.

“We are about giving back. At our AGM, we will be announcing the dividend and rebate on the loans, so if anyone is paying a loan, we are going to give them a percentage of the interest back which they have been paying all year.”

Waterside Credit Union has a volunteer board of directors which comes from all parts of the community, with different backgrounds and experiences.

“The Directors are responsible for the governance of the Waterside Credit Union and the direction we take,” said Roisin. “It is all round that we have a huge place and a huge part to play.

“Going forward we expect to be able to support our members through the current cost of living crisis. We are just going to have to try and carry them through, to get them to the other side of it, which is much the same as we had to do with covid too.

“The other message we would like to get out is because people may be forced into using credit cards to try and get them through, to try and maintain the same standard of living that they have, we don’t want then going to organisations charging high rates of interest on short term options.

“We want to say, ‘Come to the Credit Union and we will try to manage your finances with you. Try and get you a plan’.

“We just have to think in the short term. It is getting people through the next six months and then we can look at it all again to see where we stand. Waterside Credit Union has that flexibility. We can change a customer’s agreement around a payment that suits them, one they can afford. Whatever it takes.

“As long as we do have that loyalty and commitment, which we are very lucky to have from our members, we will be able to see them through to the other side and get them back to a point where they can start to lift that burden off again.

Representatives from SDLP and Sinn Fein also visited Waterside Credit Union last Thursday to celebrate International Credit Union Day.

Roisin said they met staff and board members to discuss the vital role that credit unions play in the community, in the provision of financial services, and to highlight the many other ways in which credit unions positively impact their local community.

She added: “International Credit Union Day 2022 is a celebration of the impact credit unions and other financial cooperatives have made, and continue to make, for their members. It is also a chance to be thankful for the lives and communities that have been improved by our movement.

“Credit unions are volunteer led organisations and have a long history of working to help their members and communities, particularly during challenging times.

“We’re delighted to have had the opportunity to welcome local MLAs to Waterside Credit Union, to see the work we are doing in the provision of financial services for all members of our local community.

“With the continued closure and withdrawal of bank branches in the area, we remain open, and committed to providing our members and local community with access to affordable credit.”