Meeting for Sufferings: Credit unions
Meeting for Sufferings heard of a concern from Welsh Friends
The number of people in Britain who live in poverty today and who do not have access to financial services has been a concern of Friends in Wales.
In May Friends attending North Wales Area Meeting/Cyfarfod Rhanbarth Gogledd Cymru produced a minute that encouraged Friends to explore the possibility of setting up a national Quaker Credit Union. This organisation, operating through Area Meetings, would be based principally in areas where there is no credit union coverage at present.
Tricia Jones, of North Wales Area Meeting, spoke to Meeting for Sufferings about the concern. She outlined the proposal for a nationwide network of Quaker Credit Unions and explained that it had come from a concern to address growing economic injustice in Britain. She referred to Minute 36 of Yearly Meeting 2015 and the ‘Call to Action’. North Wales Friends are keen to take the initiative on to ‘the next stage’.
Some Friends were sceptical and others positive about the proposal. Should Friends get involved independently or work within existing structures?
A Friend referred to a proposal for a Quaker bank that was currently in progress. He wondered if there was an ‘overlap’ and said that ‘it is not something I would touch with a bargepole as there is so much work to do.’ Another Friend said that in her area local credit unions needed support. She wondered what it was about a credit union that ‘needs to be Quaker’?
A Friend highlighted the fact that there were areas currently not served by credit unions, where ‘loan sharks and payday lenders’ operate, and was in support of the idea. The ‘enormous amount of work’ done by Friends in Wales on the subject was praised. Some Friends talked about their engagement with local credit unions.
North Wales Area Meeting was encouraged to continue to work on the concern, and engage with other Area Meetings and central committees where appropriate.
