Supporting Kent Savers and your local community
Credit Unions fulfil a vital role in society by providing ethical financial services to people who may not be served by mainstream banks, often due to a low credit score.
Without credit unions, people might turn to payday lenders and high cost credit, which increase their risk of falling into financial difficulty. Kent Savers’ members join us to save, access fair, affordable loans and benefit our local community. They can also have a say in how we’re run, by:
- taking part in AGMs, contributing suggestions and views of how to improve what Kent Savers does
- volunteering in various community-facing activities or as a director, an administrator, on a committee or working party
- making a donation or giving a grant to Kent Savers, allowing us to increase the number of members we help
- being a Friend of Kent Savers
Join our Supervisory Committee for a vital role in how we serve our members
We are currently recruiting for people to join our Supervisory Committee! This operates very much like an Audit Committee and is there to ensure that the credit union is run in accordance with its rules and regulations. If you are interesting joining two existing members on this committee, to provide robust and constructive challenge to the Board, please get in touch!
Friend of Kent Savers and Lottery
Friends provides practical assistance and supports Kent Savers and its members.
While the board, staff and volunteers are busy running the credit union’s day to day, Friends focuses on fundraising, spreading the word about Kent Savers throughout the county, and supporting our volunteers.
The Friends is an independent organisation, with its own constitution and committee. Kent Savers provides administration, systems and facilities support to the Friends.
Any member of Kent Savers can apply to become a Friend – simply email Friends and it will be in touch. You can also join the Friends of Kent Savers Lottery for a chance to win 50% of entry fees net of charges paid in each month.
Become an ambassador
Word of mouth is an important way to recruit new members to Kent Savers. You can play a vital role in that as part of your day to day life – simply spread the word about ways that Kent Savers can help people at your workplace, school, community centre.
Put people in contact with Kent Savers by pointing them to our website – that’s all you need to do. We do the rest to help people that you care about.
Join us as a community organisation
Organisations such as charities, not-for-profits, clubs, societies and voluntary groups can join as a community, becoming a corporate member – you just need to be based in Kent or a Housing Association.
By supporting Kent Savers, you help your local community directly.
Volunteering
Volunteers play a vital, valuable and essential resource in developing Kent Savers’ services to members. They help develop Kent Savers as a business and maintain links with members and the local community.
Equally, being a volunteer can be incredibly rewarding as it allows you to deploy your skills in new ways and to respond to new challenges. The working environment is friendly, results can usually be seen quickly, and the opportunity to learn new skills from other colleagues is real. There are a variety of ways in which you can help us as a volunteer.
If you have an idea in addition to the following examples, or would like to help us in any of these ways, please contact us.
Lead community-facing activities or provide administrative support
As a Kent Savers volunteer you can support the following aims and objectives:-
- Encourage saving and sensible financial budgeting, for people living, working or studying within Kent.
- Focus on the most deprived communities across the county and in response to local economic needs.
- Provide an opportunity for eligible members to borrow money at a fair interest rate, even with a low credit score.
- Encourage young people to save by the development of in-house school saving schemes.
- Work with key stakeholders to promote awareness of the benefits of saving and borrowing with Kent Savers.
- Provide opportunities for members of the community to get involved by volunteering.
Get in touch to discuss what you might bring and to make sure that it will also work for you.
Become a director
The Board of Directors determine the policies and priorities of Kent Savers. They have strategic responsibility for organising and controlling the affairs of the Credit Union responsibly and effectively.
We seek driven, enthusiastic and innovative people with knowledge of personal financial services. We are keen to hear from people with experience in:
- Regulatory, risk and compliance
- Marketing, business development and customer engagement
- IT project management or website management
Knowledge of credit unions is a plus, but not essential. We look for team players who enjoy collaborative working, want to make a difference and can commit to the core values that underpin financial inclusion and ethical lending.
For more information see the Directors’ roles and responsibilities and to apply please complete the application form.
Serving on a committee
The Supervisory Committee is responsible for overseeing the running of the credit union and making sure that Kent Savers operates within the law, regulation, rules and policies. The Supervisory Committee must be independent of the functions it inspects and is responsible for ensuring that Kent Savers’ financial and management procedures and practices serve the best interest of its members.
For further information on joining the Supervisory Committee, please contact us.
Apply your expertise in a working party
If you have the same motivation and skills required for being a director but don’t want to commit to being on the board, why not contribute through a working party instead?
Every year, we set a strategy for Kent Savers for the period ahead and various workstreams emerge from that. These can be technical in nature, governance related or customer facing marketing activities.
If this sounds good and you can give a few hours each month, please contact us.
FAQs
How does Friends of Kent Savers Lottery work? The Friends run a monthly lottery. Entries cost £1 each and the lottery is drawn on the first business day of the month. You must be a member of Kent Savers to take part, simply complete the Lottery Application Form and return it to the Friends at our address. Your lottery number will be the same as your Kent Savers membership number.
Once you’ve joined the lottery you do not have to enter the lottery every month. Each entry in the lottery costs £1, and you may have as many as 10 entries each month. To enter the lottery, simply transfer between £1 and £10 to the Friends’ lottery account by bank transfer, online banking, or standing order – details are on the application form.
At the start of each month, all the £1 entries received during the previous calendar month are entered into the draw, and one lucky entry is chosen.
At least 50% of the entry fees will be paid to the winner each month.
The remaining monies are used to cover the Friend’s costs in administering the lottery, and the balance is then donated to Kent Savers.
The winner is notified by email or post and the winnings are paid into their Share account.
Volunteering may reward you with:
- Great personal satisfaction
- Personal development
- Gaining new skills
- Additional experience to add to your C.V.
- Supporting members of the local community
- Meeting people
For volunteering to work, it must fit with your lifestyle. The days and number of hours you commit may vary according to the work you would be undertaking. You should be happy to make a commitment to a number of hours, probably at the same time(s) and day(s) each week.
