Emma is a single mum with two children. When her eldest started secondary school she was worried about finding more than £300 for uniforms and equipment. Her credit union gave her a £500 loan with affordable weekly repayments and she built up savings alongside it. Choosing her credit union over a high cost lender saved her £379 in interest. Six months later she’d topped up for Christmas and had over £200 put by, for the first time giving her some real financial security.
Another member, a new single parent, had felt undignified constantly asking family for money and had started using loan sharks. A Family Loan from her credit union became, in her words, a lifeline, letting her repay through her Child Benefit and finally end that cycle.
Bobbie Leigh from Salford uses the bus multiple times a day. A credit union backed annual ticket loan brought her monthly cost down from £85 to £67 and with it, some peace of mind. Chris saved £10 a month through a standing order for over 23 years without ever missing the money and was amazed when he found out how much had built up.
These are the stories behind our 2025 Impact Report and they’re the reason SoundPound exists.
We’re a consortium of 14 credit unions working together across Greater Manchester and this year we helped at least 14,000 people become first time savers, supported 45,000 members building financial resilience. We estimate our lending generated up to £188 million of economic activity that stayed local rather than draining out to shareholders elsewhere. £255.3 million is held in savings across our credit unions and £174.6 million is out on loan, all of it owned by and answerable to the members it serves.
Every number in our report started as someone’s ordinary, difficult moment, a uniform bill, a broken boiler, a bus fare that kept creeping up. Read the full report to see what happens when finance is built to serve people rather than profit.
Download the full Impact Report 2025
