Hollywood star backing anti-debt campaign
WELSH actor Michael Sheen is lending his celebrity to a campaign to increase awareness of the benefits of using credit unions.
The Hollywood star, originally from Port Talbot, is supporting Say No to Debt Row, a monthlong campaign that aims to highlight the issue of debt in Wales.
Sheen, 47, said: “According to the Money Advice Trust, a third of 18 to 24-year-olds in the UK have debts of almost £3,000.
“Even more worrying is a recent report which stated around 1.6 million UK households are living in extreme debt, paying out 40 per cent or more of household income to creditors. Every penny paid, in unnecessarily high interest charges, is money leaving our local communities.
“The alternative of credit unions helps us keep that money in your community and invests in better local support and products to help us all in managing finances.”
The campaign, which has attracted cross-party political support, focuses on the risk of high-interest loans and promotes credit unions as viable alternatives to other types of lending.
Credit unions are community-focused financial cooperatives that are controlled by their members and offer savings and loans. The income such unions generate by lending us used to meet operating expenses while surplus profits are used to pay their members dividends.
Each union has a “common bond” which determines who can become a member.
Rhondda Cynon Taf Credit Union Dragonsavers is supporting the cause. General manager Christina Stoneman said: In the run up to the major shopping season of the year, when many families our personal come under significant financial pressure, this campaign aims to highlight that there are alternatives to high-interest lenders.
“All too often we come across people spending hundreds or thousands of pounds more than they need to on credit, consigning themselves to a debt sentence that can be hard to escape.
“Credit unions are community banks that are owned by our members. We are financially sympathetic and have no external shareholders.
“As for not-for-profits, we offer a different way of banking, but have the same guarantees on savings as High Street institutions.”
This is the second year that Credit Unions of Wales have run the Say No to Debt Row campaign.
People can pledge their commitment to Say No to Debt Row by posting selfies with the hashtag #nodebtrow on social media.