One of the advantages of being a community bank is being able to give back through community sponsorship support.
Leith Rugby Youth Development players in Castle Community Bank sponsored shirts
We’re pleased to be supporting Leith Rugby Youth Development this season with shirt sponsorship. Leith Rugby develops youth rugby in Leith and encourages local children to take up sport and embrace the associated health and wellbeing benefits.
Syngenta FC team in Castle Community Bank sponsored kit
We’re also supporting Grangemouth football team Syngenta FC with kit sponsorship this season, and helping with travel expenses for a tournament trip to Barcelona.
Castle Community Bank is committed to improving the local and wider environment for all, and community sponsorship support is just one way we are able to do this.
Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) in Edinburgh is the latest local organisation to be supported by Leith-based credit union Castle Community Bank.
The community bank is passionate about making a difference and already supports a number of foodbanks and community organisations, with plans to support more as the company grows.
Chief Executive for Castle Community Bank, Adrian Sargent, said: “Community wealth building works and we are committed to supporting our neighbours. Citizens Advice Bureau is a crucial service for people in financial difficulty, and I’m delighted we are able to commit to supporting them with essential funding when times are extremely hard for families and individuals in Scotland and across the UK. CAB are also able to support our members wherever they are based, not only those in Edinburgh.”
CAB Edinburgh Chief Executive Benjamin Napier said: “The support from Castle Community Bank is gratefully welcomed at a time of year when finances can cause a lot of strain on households. It’s never been more important for Citizens Advice Bureau to exist. We’ll use this support to help more people in Edinburgh with financial difficulties, benefit eligibility and other everyday issues.”
Castle Community Bank, based in Leith, has received £1 million investment from Social Investment Scotland.
The growing credit union received the £1M sub-ordinated loan to support their growth and ambition to be a business of scale providing ethical and affordable loans and excellent returns for savers.
Chief Executive Adrian Sargent
Castle Community Bank Chief Executive Adrian Sargent said:
“I’m delighted that Social Investment Scotland has confidence in Castle Community Bank and has invested £1M. This fantastic investment will reap benefits for not only our organisation but also the communities and members we support in Leith and beyond. This is another important step in our journey to grow the credit union sector and promote financial inclusion in the UK.”
Social Investment Scotland Head of Investments Chris Jamieson, said:
“We’re very happy to be supporting Castle Community Bank and its ambitious programme of targeted growth, which will positively impact people in Leith and the surrounding area. We see the important role that credit unions play in building a wellbeing economy, particularly when many individuals and households are struggling with the rising cost of living. That’s why we are committed to supporting organisations such as Castle Community Bank, who are providing fair and affordable access to finance for the people and communities who need it most.”
About Castle Community Bank
Castle Community Bank is different to other UK credit unions because it is able to offer savings and loans to members across the UK rather than just one region or profession. Savers who want their money to do good can typically benefit from top tier interest rates, while enabling the bank to make affordable loans available to those who need them. Castle Community Bank uses innovative fintech outsourcing to unlock greater scale and efficiencies, thereby helping more people across the country. And because the bank is not-for-profit, any surplus generated is invested into products for members and community initiatives.
Castle Community Bank’s credit union objectives:
Encouraging thrift by growing members’ savings and putting their money to good use
Making affordable loans available to members at fair and reasonable rates of interest
Helping members with financial education and money management.
It’s a tough time financially for families and individuals across the UK right now. The cost of energy is adding unwelcome pressure to an ongoing cost-of-living crisis caused by a number of global economic issues. Castle Community Bank is dedicated to levelling-up financial inclusion and education in communities usually left behind. The following energy hardship funds information could help our members to get support with energy bills.
Support is available
While UK-wide financial support is being offered by British Gas, be aware that Scottish residents can also apply to other energy companies who offer support funds and hardship grants for customers who are struggling. If you’re in debt to an energy supplier, you may be eligible for a grant from the supplier to help pay it off.
Here’s a list of companies who offer energy hardship funds/ grants to their customers:
NOTE:If you can’t get a grant from your own supplier, you might be able to get a grant from the British Gas Energy Trust. These grants are available to anyone – you don’t have to be a British Gas customer to be eligible.
At Castle Community Bank we are dedicated to bringing people an alternative home for your savings and loans, providing fair products at competitive interest rates. Like any Credit Union, we are not-for-profit and is owned and run by members, creating a shared financial community across the UK. Any profits from running the business will be ploughed back into its member communities, starting in Leith.
“Community Wealth Building is about keeping the wealth, money, or economy local. By keeping things local it allows the money to circulate around the local economy. The money goes back in people’s pockets and back into local businesses. By keeping it a local community level means that it doesn’t get extracted away to other head offices of corporations that are not based in the local community. Grow the local community and it makes it more resilient and a better place for people to be.”
Chief Executive of Castle Community Bank, Adrian Sargent, shares his thoughts on building community wealth:
“Community Wealth Building can be categorised under five pillars:
Shared ownership of the local economy
Making financial powers work for local places
Fair employment and just labour markets
Progressive procurement of goods and services
Socially just and productive use of land, property and assets
“Designed to harness the economic leverage of local ‘anchor’ organisations to tackle long-standing systematic challenges and structural inequalities within our communities, community wealth building seeks to transform local systems to enable local people to have a stake in and benefit from the wealth our economy generates. It can deliver more and better jobs, business growth, community-owned assets and shorter supply chains creating better resilience.
Purpose alignment
“Within the credit union sector and Castle Community Bank, two of the pillars resonate really strongly. ‘Shared ownership of the local economy’ is wholly aligned to the purpose and values of our member owned organisation. We’re here for our community, our members, and we wish to give back and make sure we build our local community. The other is ‘making financial powers work for local places’. That really is core to way that we think and the way that aligns to our values and our purpose.
“We are a financial institution, we want to ensure that we can educate the local community, work with social enterprises, build that wealth within that local community.
“Castle Community Bank is a social enterprise, and there for our members, we aren’t beholden to large corporates or the stock market, so what we do is always in the best interests of our members.
Together, the community wealth building efforts of Castle Community Bank and other organisations, can help to create a more resilient and inclusive place to live, work and thrive.
“Community Wealth Building is something that is core to credit unions, and I can see that, as we focus more on this as a society, there will be a greater place for credit unions to ensure improved financial inclusion, giving back to our members, giving back to our community. Doing what we can in our community – be that offering fair savings products for our customers and our members in the local community, or offering good value loans to businesses, social enterprises and not-for-profits – keeping money within the local community for the betterment of that community.
Keep it local
“Community Wealth Building is important to myself, it keeps things local, it allows services and businesses to be there for the local community. It keeps the money in the local community to regenerate that particular area, which can then hopefully see high streets being regenerated as well, and to allow the people living in the community to have more services on their doorstep.
“Together, the community wealth building efforts of Castle Community Bank and other organisations, can help to create a more resilient and inclusive place to live, work and thrive.
“Watch this short film from ESES featuring our bank and other community organisations striving to make a difference in our region.”
