National boost for Sheffield Credit Union

The Association of British Credit Unions (Abcul) has made clear that the Yorkshire-based union played a major part in the award of Beacon status for Sheffield City Council to increase access to mainstream financial products and services.

Working with various local financial inclusion organisations, the Sheffield Credit Union has attracted more than 2,800 members in the 30 months since its founding in 2004, Abcul explains.

Chief executive of the Sheffield Credit Union Eric Thompson said: “The credit union movement in Sheffield has come a long way in the last couple of years and is now making a significant contribution, along with its partners, to the financial inclusion agenda in the city.”

A document recently launched by the economic secretary for the Treasury Ed Balls outlined how the government intends to tackle the problems relating to debt management and financial inclusion in the UK.