Four young people have joined ournew Youth Shadow Board – givingus a way to hear directly from ouryounger members.

pcusharesJune 2016

Montelle Bartley, Reece Brown, Kamren Richards andJacob Connage have now met several times. We’ve giventhem training about credit unions and the PCU, and theyare starting to get to know each other.

The group are now working with Tneek – a young Christianrapper – to develop a rap for a special music video. Thevideo, which will be ready in the summer, will promotethe PCU to young people.

In future, we’ll be giving the group more training aroundspending and saving. We’ll also be finding out from themwhat young people want from us.

We still have places The Youth Shadow Board has places for up to 12 members –so you can still apply. To find out more, call the office on020 8673 2542 or email us at info@pcuuk.com

InsideGet your church on board 2Proud of our staff 2Renewal & re-dedication 2AGM celebrates a successful year 310 things you need to know about Universal Credit 3Focus on: Education Loan Fund 4Become a PCU ambassador 4Refer a friend 4Patrick and Talia help boost PCU 4

News from the Pentecostal Credit Union

Join the PCU and get £30!If you’re under 18 and you open a credit union account,the new Equiano Benevolent Gift Scheme, set up byChristians, will pay your membership fee and start youraccount with a deposit of £30.

Call 07708 311 066 (Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm)to find out more.

Meet our Youth Shadow Board

Rapper Tneek, is pictured above with Youth Shadow Boardmembers Montelle, Reece and Jacob.

Members of the Youth Shadow Board have now started tomeet regularly to help us to promote the PCU to youngpeople and to share their views.

It’s bringing six benefitsinto one

Universal Credit will eventually replaceJobseeker’s Allowance, IncomeSupport, Income-related Employmentand Support Allowance, Working orChild Tax Credits and Housing Benefit.

It’s being rolled out nowIn most areas, single claimants withoutchildren must now apply for UniversalCredit. In some postcodes, this appliesto families too. Existing claimants willbe moved across to Universal Creditat a later date.

Does your church want tohelp people gain skillsaround financial matters?If the answer is yes, why not contactthe PCU, so that your church cantake part in the PCU Roadshow.

From 1 June to 30 October, we willbe visiting church congregations,and women’s, men’s and youthgroups, to talk about the creditunion and money matters.

Our free workshops will includeinformation and advice on how to:

• get out of debt• budget better• understand the value of

planning and saving, and• get access to low-cost and

easy-to-pay loans.

We can attend your conference,convention, ministry breakfast, orjust a normal Sunday service.

For more information, emailinfo@pcuuk.com. For more detailsor to book a date, call Elaine Boweson 020 3793 5769.

Proud of our staffWe now hold a bronze awardas Investors in People, afterbeing reaccredited recently.

To be recognised as Investors inpeople, we have to show that welead our staff well, offer them theright support and give them thechance to improve their skills andour organisation.

Get your churchon board AGM celebrates a successful year

Our Annual General Meeting took place on Saturday 19 March, at TootingNeighbourhood Centre.After joining together in worship, we agreed the minutesof our last AGM and heard about the PCU’s achievementsand performance over the past year.

Key highlights included:

• signing up 12 new members a month• a new marketing plan, including an emphasis on

social media and our YouTube channel• launching the new PCU Shares newsletter• carrying out research to find out what different

groups of members want from the PCU

10 things you need to know about Universal Credit1 It’s paid monthly in arrears

You may have to wait several weeksbefore your first payment – and itwon’t cover the first seven days.

It’s one payment for eachhousehold

It’s all paid direct to youYou will need to pay your rent yourself,because your housing costs won’t godirect to your landlord.

It’s all done onlineYou have to claim, check and updateyour claims online. If you don’t have acomputer, you should be able to useone at the jobcentre, your library oryour children’s centre. There is oftenhelp on offer too.

You can work more hoursThe 16-hour rule is abolished. Youremployers’ tax records will be linked into the system, so your Universal Credit

can be adjusted each week. You will beable to keep a small amount of theextra you earn.

There’s a capThe Benefit Cap applies to UniversalCredit too, limiting the total amount ofbenefit you can claim. From October,in London, with few exceptions,maximum claims will fall to:• £23,000 for families, and• 15,410 for single claimants.

There are more sanctionsIf you break your claimant commitment– for example, by refusing a job – youcould lose Universal Credit. If you dothis three times in a year, your benefitcould be stopped for up to three years.

Here’s a handy calculatorCheck your likely benefit levels online athttp://universal-benefit-calculator.co.uk/universalcredit – there is also moreinformation about Universal Credit atwww.moneyadviceservice.org.uk

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Renewal & re-dedicationOfficial opening of our refurbished officesBishop Delroy Powell, from the New Testament Assemblyin Tooting, re-dedicated our newly refurbished offices at asmall opening ceremony on 19 March.

A warm tribute to Rev. JonesAt the opening, we took theopportunity to pay tribute toRev. Carmel Jones, who foundedthe PCU in 1980.

Board member, Rev. VeronaRichards presented Rev. Jones withan honorary award, as we madehim a life-long member.

As the son of one of our foundingmembers, Bishop Powell spoke of hisstrong support for the ethical financeprovided by the PCU.

“I believe that Christ intended for us toextend his redemptive purpose beyondpersonal transformation and to createfairer and just economies that reflectfaith-based principles – like the PCU,where neither the lender nor theborrower gain at the expense of theother, but both lender and the

borrower, through a fair and justtransaction, come out better off,” he said.

Councillor Richard Field, the Mayor-Elect of Wandsworth opened theoffices by unveiling a commemorativeplaque. He went on to commend thePCU for its many years of service tothe black community.

Bishop Powell is pictured centre left andCllr Field is picured below, revealing theplaque as he officially opened the offices.

• major refurbishment of our offices• working to set up a a new Youth Shadow Board• granting loans totalling £1.28m, and• getting confirmation from our officers and internal

auditors that we met all our legal responsibilities.

We thanked our staff, Board and Audit Committeemembers for their hard work over the year.

You can download all our pubic documents, includingthe AGM report, 35-year Celebration Brochure and PCUShare newsletters, from: www.slideshare.net/PCUUK

Become anambassadorfor the PCUWe’re still looking forvolunteers to act as a linkbetween us and their church.

As a PCU Ambassador, we wouldask you to:

• promote the PCU with fellowchurchgoers

• put people in touch with us• promote our events, and• pass on details of where church

members can get financial helpand advice.

Your church would have to agreefirst and we would then invite youonto our training course.

Our ambassadors are an importantpart of our organisation. You wouldalso have access to training andother opportunities with outsideorganisations.

To find out more, call Lauren on 020 8673 2542.

Pentecostal Credit Union Limited 15 Oldridge Road, Balham, London SW12 8PL Phone 020 8673 2542 Email info@pcuuk.com Web www.pcuuk.com /pentecostalcreditunion @PentecostalCU

The Pentecostal Credit Union is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority (FRN 213242).

Focus on: Education Loan Fund

Whether you need money for schooluniforms, a computer or books foryour studies, or funding for collegetuition fees, the PCU can help.

The cost of borrowing £3,000, over 18months, to pay for school uniforms,would be £192 each month. You canapply for a loan of this size from dayone of your membership.

Would you like to contribute to orfeature in a future issue ofpcushares? Call the office, we willbe pleased to hear from you!

If you or your children are in school or university, ourEducation Loan Fund may be just what you need.

As an existing member in goodstanding with the PCU, you can applyto borrow up to £10,000 over threeyears, at a cost of £327 each month.

Your loan would be subject to theusual credit and affordability checks.

To apply, phone 020 8673 2542 andopt to speak to Lauren, our LoansOfficer, who will be pleased to assist.

We’re pleased to report that our video of members Patrick and Taliatalking about the PCU (as featured in last issue) has had nearly5,000 views on Facebook since February.

You can help us promote the PCU by encouraging people to view and sharethe videos on our YouTube channel, which capture our events over the last12 months. Go to YouTube and type in ‘Pentecostal Credit Union’.

Patrick and Talia help boost the PCU

We’re launching a new Member referral programme. If your family member, friend or colleague practises the Pentecostal Faith,why not make a referral? For every five new members who join PCU throughyour referral, we will credit £50 to your PCU share account.

Refer a friend – and gain a £50 credit