Raise The Profile

The Editor of, shall we say, not traditionally the most left-wing of newspapers, Peter Barron writes:

We made it clear yesterday that we support the Archbishop of Canterbury in his quest to strengthen credit unions as an alternative to payday loan companies.

Sadly, Justin Welby's campaign has got off to an unfortunate start with the revelation that the Church of England had invested indirectly in Wonga - the company the Archbishop wants to force out of business through healthy competition.

He has ordered a review of Church investments and the inconsistency in the Church's position certainly needs to be cleared up. It should not, however, get in the way of the wider benefits of putting Church resources behind the credit union movement.

In fact, it should act as a spur to give the campaign greater urgency because there is now even more pressure on Archbishop Welby to deliver on his pledge. 

In tomorrow's paper, The Northern Echo will add its weight to the campaign by promising to provide a free advertising service to credit unions in the North-East.

Credit unions, run by community volunteers, do not have the marketing budgets of large commercial organisations, and providing free advertising is something practical a local newspaper can offer as support.

We recognise that payday lenders such as Wonga are operating legally, unlike the rogue loan sharks which operate outside the boundaries of the law.

Legitimate operators have every right to promote their business however they choose, but we want to help credit unions compete. Like Archbishop Welby, we want to raise the profile of viable community-run alternatives, offering lower rates of interest.

The free advertising offer will not be a one-off but an on-going service, and credit unions which want to take advantage of it should email their contact details to samantha.chisholm@nqyne.co.uk.