Ian believes that no-one should be at the mercy of credit-sharks ...

He wants others to appreciate the good that well run credit unions can do.

Here is his explanation of what a Credit Union is:

"I could tell you ‘what’ a Credit Union is in one sentence.

I could also define cricket in one sentence, but you would still have no idea how to play the game, although, to their credit, our cousins in the USA are now taking to it!

So, what exactly is a Credit Union?

A credit union is a mutually owned organization, which provides a facility for savings, and provides rate-capped loans to its members from those savings.

Credit Unions are often seen in Britain as providing access to financial services for the financially excluded. Ian has some objection to this view as it conjures up, by association, the phrase 'poor man's bank'.

If we think in global terms 25% of Americans, and 50% of the Irish population are credit union members. In these countries, and many others, banking with a credit union is seen as a central part of community life.

A credit union is a group of people with a "common bond". This might be the workplace; the geographical work area; the area lived-in; a social group, etc. In formal terms those within that "common bond" form an industrial and provident society which is subject to a number of rules and financial regulations such as the Credit Union Act.

Anyone within the "common bond" can become a member of the credit union, and the organization is owned and controlled by its members.

The Credit Union encourages members to save, and these savings provide the funds from which members can obtain loans. The maximum charge for these loans is 1% per month or 12.68% APR. It can be, and sometimes is, less.

The income from the loans is used to finance the day to day running of the credit union, and any surplus is distributed in whatever way the members decide at the AGM. Surpluses are usually paid out as a dividend.

You might see main stream banks and building societies offering cheaper loans, but these are usually for larger amounts of money, or to people with equity or good credit records.

Those who do not fit the criteria for these cheaper loans then often deal with doorstep lenders; high street cheque-cashers and other high rate money providers. By contrast, loans from a credit union are based on shares held in the credit union and/or the ability to repay, and any surplus that is made at the end of the year is retained within the local community.

Saving encouragement and loans to members are the core business of a credit union, but it might also provide facilities such as cheque cashing, bill-paying etc

Setting up a credit union can be hard work!

The potential size of 'New Model Credit Unions' means that the day to day running needs to be done by professional staff. To form and register a credit union in England and Wales a number of criteria as set down by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) must be met. This is the responsibility of the Steering Group, those on the committee who helped set it up. Later the directors, to ensure that the credit union is, at all times, a financially viable organization, and that it continues to act in a responsible and legal manner - even when 'they' keep changing the rules on you! This means that any new credit union needs members who are prepared to see the formation process through from start to finish.

This is hard work, but it is very rewarding. As a committee member of a credit union you have the opportunity take a part in the formation, and watch the growth of what will be a major influence on the prosperity of your community. There is a part to play for everybody, so I live in hope that some of you reading this will consider volunteering in your local area.

Buy or borrow books on social finance

or the co-operative movement

Millions of books are digitized for the disabled

Social Enterprise London

SEL is the regional agency that promotes Social Enterprise in London and increases the scale of the Social Economy. On 7th December 2006, SEL launched a new finance guide called "Climbing the Ladder" aimed at social enterprises at all stages of development. It is supported by (the ethical) Triodos Bank, Europe’s leading social banking specialist.

Open a Savings Account with Tridos
and Triodos Bank, make a donation to the World Development Movement

Co-operative Development

The East London-based Borough of Tower Hamlets Co-operative Development Agency (CDA) is managed by Gregory Cohen.
tel: 020 7247 1050: mobile: 07770 7652250: fax 020 7247 1426.

Jacyntha Crawley and Ian Moseley are both members of the Tower Hamlets Co-operative Development Agency . Both have served on the Management Committee.

How to start a cooperative and change the world

Co-operatives UK

Directory of Co-operatives in Northern Ireland

Co-operative and Mutuality in Scotland

Co-operative Development in Scotland

Library Co-operatives in Scotland

The Wales Co-operative Centre

Irish Co-operative Organization Society

Some Worldwide Co-operatives

Setbacks And Surprises Part Of The Deal For A Startup

Real Good for Free: The Paradox of Leisure Time

Some International Food Co-operatives

India: The KASAM (Kandhamal Apex Spices Association for Marketing), Co-operative was set up to trade fairly with, and help to educate, the Kuttia Kondh tribe, who have, for some time, grown and exported high quality organic turmeric, The turmeric has now been certified as organic by SKAL, the Dutch equivalent of the British Soil Association. Trading turmeric is vital to the welfare of more than 12,000 subsistence farmers in a region where the average family plot is only around one third of a hectare.

The Tribal Co-operative Marketing Development Federation of India, TRIFED.

The Federation of Tibetan Co-operatives in India has similar objectives

Tea Co-operatives in India.

October 2007: In an edition of the "Food Programme" on BBC Radio 4, the tea co-operative run by the Kilimanjaro Native Co-operative Union, was featured. The KNCU, founded in 1924 is Africa's oldest Coffee Co-operative. Tea growers are now included

Calon Wen is a diary Co-op owned by over 20 farming families from across Wales. It was the first dairy in the UK to achieve the Soil Association Ethical Trade Symbol

Not a co-op but Campaign is the first overseas trade title / international business magazine in Bangladesh

Fair Trade Expansion in the UK

Become involved in the real supermarket debate.

The first London Borough (administrative district) to achieve fair trade status was Croydon, in the South, and there are regular fair trade markets held throughout the year. Another London Borough to achieve fair trade status is Tower Hamlets in the East. The eventual aim is to make London a fair trade City.

To achieve fair trade Borough status 5 goals must be met:

The Council must pass a resolution supporting fair trade , and serve fair trade coffee and tea at its meetings and in offices and canteens.

A range of fair trade products must be readily available in the shops in the area, and served in local cafés and catering establishments.

fair trade products must be used by a number of local work places (e.g. estate agents, hairdressers etc.) and community organizations (e.g.churches, schools etc).

The council must attract popular support for the campaign.

A local fair trade steering group must be convened to ensure continued commitment to fair trade Borough status.

The above commitments take about a year to achieve

Kingston-upon-Thames, in the west of London received fair trade status in April 2005. As well as being a London Borough, Kingston is the administrative centre for the county of Surrey

The postcard below shows the Coronation Stone used by Saxon Kings who ruled the South of England before the Norman Conquest of 1066. The Coronation Stone is signposted within Kingston: the location has been slightly moved to ease traffic flow.

1911 hand-tinted image of Kingston-upon-Thames is in the archives of Ki Cards.

The (UK) Co-operative Supermarket chain pledged to have all their own brand products as fair-trade items by the end of 2005.

In June 2004 Co-operative supermarkets said they would ban nitro and polycyclic musks and phthalates from their own brand product ranges. These chemicals are
linked to cancers; loss of fertility and environmental damage

In the UK, Fair Trade Fortnight
is an annual event held in March

Green and Black's dark chocolate was the first 'Fair Trade' product to be launched.

The Ethical Consumer Magazine.

The British Association for fair trade Shops, BAFTS.

The Green Consumer Guide.

In January 2006 Janet Tibble, the editor of the government funded Overseas Trade magazine gave her views on fair trade .

Many UK colleges, including Morley College in South London, where Kevin Crawley, taught tai chi for years, hold major fair trade promotions throughout fair trade Fortnight.

Sadly, there are anomalies ... 'Fair Trade' roses (and even Organic Fair Trade roses!) are flown into British supermarkets from Kenya and India

Trade Justice

is an equivalent organization in the US

Bananas

16th February 2010: sold every minute leads Sainsburys to claims it is now the world's largest retailer of fair trade products. In the UK almost one in every four pounds spent on fair trade is spent at Sainsburys

If you can afford to, please buy the slightly smaller and slightly more expensive bananas from the Winward Islands. These are of a superior quality, and the small-scale growers depend on us, for their future.

Huge-multinational conglomerates own the banana plantations in South America and undercut the Winward Islands bananas on price, but they abuse their workers and keep them in near 'slavery'. They also rely on the unregulated and indiscriminate use of pesticides and other chemicals to grow bigger crops.

Well-produced, good quality bananas are an excellent food for those who suffer from tinnitus. And, no, ... we don't suggest they are stuffed into the ears!

The UK University of Nottingham, Institute for the Study of Slavery seeks to pursue and develop research on contemporary, as well as historical slavery in all parts of the world. ...
On 6th-9th September, 2010: The Institute for the Study of Slavery held a Conference on

Slave, Forced and 'Free' Labour
Talks by Anti-Slavery International and the International Labour Organization, together with a Q&A panel session are included in the video event which should be publicly available.

Coffee

Article on fair trade coffee in Nicaragua: Written for USA Today by a friend of Jacyntha 's who initially took a year out of university to actively promote the project

West London: "In Defense of fair trade " Chiswick Churches for Justice and Peace discussion on "Coffee Bean Wars"

Rwanda: The Abahuzamugumbi Co-operative consists of smallholder farmers in the South of that country. They grow, and now process, high-grade coffee under the trade name of Roasters Co-operative. They own an excellent Roasters Co-operative Coffee shop near Mile End Underground station in East London.

Union Coffee Roasters Co-operative, The New Roastery, Unit 2, 7a, South Crescent, E16 4TL. tel: 020 7474 8990

Cooking with Coffee: 60 Recipes Using Fair Trade Coffee (New Internationalist Fairtrade Cookbooks) (Paperback)

Most Oxfam shops sell fair trade coffees, teas and fair trade groceries, chocolate, snack bars and sweets; dried fruit, jam, marmalade and honey; nuts, rice, sugar and olive oil from Palestine where there are some of the oldest olive groves in the world, some trees being 1500 to 2000 years old. Christmas items are stocked in season. Jacyntha can recommend Oxfam organic cashew nuts (unsalted) from Ecuador and sold seasonally. Cashew nuts contain minerals that can help re-balance female mood swings!

At Zaytoun they also sell organic olive oil, juicy medjoul dates, and other artisan foods from Palestine.

Oxfam shops is the largest retailer of second-hand books in Europe.

Design from the range at www.batikcards.net

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds

RSPB are producing coffee on bird-friendly plantations, and cocoa in
El Salvador and Brazil through their Bird Life partners. The cocoa production benefits and supports rainforest conservation

Help save the Rainforests by supporting the World Land Trust

The RSPB has branded its own wild-life friendly, organic rice. This rice won best new food product at the Natural Products and Organic Industry Awards in 2005. It is grown in north-east Spain, in collaboration with SEO , the RSPB's Bird Life partners in Spain. SEO has a farm in the Ebro Delta, in north-east Spain, and the wetlands on which the rice grows are a major source of food for thousands of migrating birds.

Brown organic rice is excellent for those who suffer from tinnitus.

Going Against the Grain in Louisiana.

Wheat for Wildlife-friendly Penne Pasta, and white and brown spaghetti, are produced by the RSPB from organic durum wheat. This is grown in the steppes, in Aragon, in north-east Spain, and the farms are important to birds like the calandra lark and the pin-tailed sand grouse.

Local Exchange Trading Schemes (LETS)
and Freecycle

are support networks that have now been set up in many countries to help people to exchange goods and services on a pooled system of credits and debits. There is usually a joining fee to offset the administration costs, and each scheme has its own application form, so you can join more than one. For this reason the advisory service Lets Link-UK was set up in 1991. Lets Link-UK has a list of groups that is sent out on receipt of a large ssae. A pack for new organizers, which includes a start-up guide and information booklets, costs £10 + p&p, while a small introductory booklet is available for 6 loose stamps from

Lets Link-UK, 12, Southcote Road, London N19 5BJ, tel: 020 7607 7852

Within Wales contact Lets Link-UK through:
Mr. Nick Davies, Teifi Taf Lets, Maes-y-Morfa, Llangrannog
SA44 6RU. tel: 01239 654561. maesymorfa@hotmail.com

In France you go through the VESS (Village Economie Social et Solidaire) system.

Freecycle UK, and in the US.

Its like e-bay but everything is absolutely FREE!

The Tower Hamlets London Recycle Group is absolutely brilliant.
No wonder they produce champion recyclers!

Fair Trade Islands

Fair Isle

is one of the remotest islands in the UK situated between Shetland and Orkney in the North Sea. The Norwegians, the Scots and the English, have all claimed sovereignty there. Fair Isle is officially the first fair trade island within the UK

Fair Isle has been owned by the National Trust for Scotland for over 50 years. When the 2 light-houses were automated a major source of outside income into Fair Isle went. The local economy now depends on earnings from the world famous bird observatory, and Fair Isle knitwear. Conservation groups from the London Intervarsity Club, including the group led by Jacyntha and Ian have volunteered there

For those fascinated by the Scottish Islands @7 3is produced in Fair Isle, and is the only magazine to specialize in The Scottish islands

Jersey

is the largest of the Channel Islands which are situated between England and France in the English Channel

Jersey became a fair trade island through the efforts of the fair trade island group Sister Hilary Brown , a friend of Jacyntha 's, was then the CAFOD representative for the island of Jersey. Pick up the free booklet "fair trade island Jersey". It lists the enterprises that support the campaign.

CAFOD is the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development, the English and Welsh arm of one of the largest relief networks in the world