A leading anti-poverty organisation has agreed a £5,000 loan to help keep the city’s own Salford Credit Union afloat.
The Salford Unemployed and Community Resource Centre (SUCRC) has been running out of Liverpool Road in Eccles for the past 35 years.
Centre manager Alec McFadden told SalfordOnline.com the subordinated loan to the Salford Credit Union was “money well spent” because of the vital help it gives to poor and vulnerable people.
The former River Valley Credit Union, which operated from Great Clowes Street in Lower Broughton, has expanded massively over the past five years to offer cheap loans at low rates, encouraging families to save and combatting payday loan firms and doorstep lenders.
Its main base is now at Broadwalk in Pendleton and there are satellite branches at Eccles Gateway and the Broughton Hub.
McFadden continued: “People need to feed and clothe their families and when they have no money that’s when they are at their most vulnerable.
“The number of people who could be exploited by loan sharks is growing as a result of the Government’s cuts in jobs and services and a lack of support, so to have a credit union on your doorstep is a massive plus.
“The credit union is the people’s bank; it is there to help its members and the more members and supporters it has, the more vulnerable people can be helped.
This week SUCRC told SalfordOnline.com of a funded plan to offer free breakfasts to people on low income and ex-offenders, which thousands of people read and shared online.
It has also started to offer ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages), teaching English to migrant workers.
McFadden is now calling on the voluntary sector, Salford City Council and “our wealthy local football teams” to put people first and follow the lead of the Salford Unemployed & Community Resource Centre by making a subordinated loan, a loan or a donation of £5,000.
“This would go a long way to help the most needy in our society,” he said.
