Olivia* is a 23 year old single parent with two young children. She is a member of South Manchester Credit Union and in 2022 had taken out a loan to meet the cost of purchasing a gravestone for her late grandmother.

Shortly after this loan was approved, Olivia was in the difficult but common situation of waiting for her new job as a healthcare assistant to start, while needing to pay the first week of nursery fees for her children. She got in touch with the credit union and they were able to approve a £350 NILS loan, which ran alongside her current loan. Ordinarily, Olivia would have been declined from an interest bearing loan because of affordability, given her existing repayments on her other loan.

Thanks to the No Interest Loan Scheme, it was possible for South Manchester Credit Union to offer Olivia the additional funds she needed to meet the cost of childcare.

This £350 NILS loan provided peace of mind for Olivia as she was able to start her new job without the worry of how she would afford childcare. It was agreed with the credit union that she would make weekly repayments of £11 towards her NILS loan, over a period of 7 months. The repayments were automatically deducted from Olivia’s child benefit income, so she didn’t have the added stress of managing these.

Olivia successfully paid off her loan with no issues, and has since built a bigger relationship with South Manchester Credit Union. Once her NILS loan was fully repaid, she was able to move on to their Saver Loan product, which allows members to build their savings whilst also paying off a loan.

Olivia has managed to increase her earnings as a healthcare assistant and she has been able to save over £450 with the credit union in the time since her NILS loan. This is an important safety net that Olivia can now lean on in the future.

*Name changed to respect the anonymity of contributors