Fair4All Finance invests £200k in Lewisham Plus Credit Union as part of plans to increase affordable lending across South East London

• Fair4All Finance to invest £200k in Lewisham Plus Credit Union (LPCU) to support access to affordable credit in South East London
• Investment is latest from Fair4All Finance’s Affordable Credit Scale Up Programme, designed to increase the supply of affordable credit for people in financially vulnerable circumstances

This new social investment of £200k into South East London based Lewisham Plus Credit Union is the latest support from Fair4all Finance’s Affordable Credit Scale Up Programme, designed to increase the supply of affordable credit for people in financially vulnerable circumstances.

Lewisham Plus Credit Union provide fair and affordable financial services for people living or working across two London boroughs, Lewisham and Bromley.

This social investment of £200k long-term subordinated debt to support Lewisham Plus Credit Union’s growth plans follows previous grant funding of £30k to support their strategic merger with local employee-based credit union Crownsavers, a significant milestone in the promotion of financial wellbeing and inclusion in the area, with a total membership of 17,000 people.

Holly Piper, Investment Director at Fair4All Finance said ‘We know from our Segmentation research that at least 45% of adults in Lewisham, and 27% of adults in Bromley are in financially vulnerable circumstances, so there is a clear need for wider access to affordable finance options. We’re pleased to support with continuing and expanding access to affordable credit in South East London, following Lewisham Plus’s successful merger with local credit union Crownsavers.

This social investment will allow Lewisham Plus Credit Union to expand its membership base and explore opportunities to expand new product offers such as employer partnership lending and consolidation lending.’

Ravi Ravindran, CEO of Lewisham Plus Credit Union said ‘We are grateful for the substantial investment that we have received from Fair4All Finance to support our work in Lewisham and Bromley. We see many financially vulnerable individuals within our common bond.

We are committed to continuing our work to help them to deal with the increase in the cost of living in recent months and to enable them to manage their finances effectively by providing affordable credit and facilitating saving.

The investment from Fair4All Finance will allow us to expand our activities and introduce new products to broaden our membership and increase our positive impact within the community.’