Episode 12 A Matter of Life and Debt

Every day, all over the country,

millions of people are struggling to find the cash they need

to make ends meet or to realise their dreams.

-40, 60, 80...

-Can I withdraw £500?

-50, 65.

-Thank you, Lisa.

-OK?

Many struggle to qualify for high-street borrowing,

making them vulnerable to illegal loan sharks.

That first £100 loan leads to another, leads to another.

But, there are a growing number of community banks or credit unions

that are offering a helping hand,

whilst at the same time supporting the local area.

We are looking to offer you a loan.

20, 40, 60, 70, 80.

We've had our ups and downs,

like any other family would in a family business.

They gave me the option of what I could afford.

I could actually live again and actually save again.

From household emergencies, to kick starting a new life or business...

Organic veg boxes!

I am a bit nervous, but I'm still excited.

It's like I'm getting married, it's crazy!

..we're following some of these life-changing stories.

It basically meant that something that I never thought I'd do in my

life was actually going to happen.

Without that help,

the transformation to my life would have been impossible.

So it's a win-win situation, really.

Today, a loan helps realise childhood dreams.

I couldn't imagine doing anything else, ever.

How unexpected circumstances lead a mum of six to bankruptcy.

Four of my six children have got additional needs,

so they're quite challenging.

And a loan helps a determined chocolatier reach out to royalty.

I think if I was in Bruges,

they probably wouldn't think too much about it, but I'm in Leicester.

-How can I help?

-I'm just here to apply for me loan.

Credit is a huge part of modern life.

From quite a young age, I was relying on credit cards.

New estimates show the debt of UK households will hit a record high

next year, overtaking the levels of borrowing

before the financial crisis.

I was forking out 750 quid a month to creditors

and I wasn't getting left with an awful lot of money afterwards.

People who are unable to borrow from banks or building societies

have been turning to high interest payday loans

or even illegal moneylenders.

What starts out as a small loan can soon become unmanageable debt.

Absolutely maxed out on every single

bank account and credit cards and loans.

I just started growing the debt.

But there is another option.

This one's supposed to be...

And you're a member of the credit union, yes?

Credit unions are not-for-profit organisations

set up for the benefit of the community.

Their popularity has grown to the point

where UK credit union membership has doubled in a decade.

That leaves you with a balance of £1,099.56.

All the members are made to save,

but 70% have savings and no loan and 30% have loans and savings.

That has created a pool of money

which we can on-lend to other people.

Thank you very much, Mrs, you have a good week, yeah?

-OK, thank you, have a nice day.

-Cheers.

There are over 400 credit unions throughout the country,

including London Capital in Islington...

London Capital Credit Union, how can I help you?

..where Martin Groombridge is the manager.

Well, he can trace this root back to 1962.

It was operating from a metal tin in

the back of a church in Fern Park in Hornsey.

They've just over £12 million in savings and, interestingly,

90% of our members said they had no savings before they joined us.

It's about getting people to learn the habit of budgeting,

taking control of their money, helping them help themselves.

Take care, thank you so much. Have a lovely day.

Do you have your membership number, please?

Visiting the Islington branch today is local council worker Alan.

Although Alan has a job, he needs to borrow to supplement his income.

I work for the local council.

I still need a loan to get me out of trouble sometimes.

I've been a member now for years, I think about seven to ten years.

Don't know what I'd do without the loans and the credit union.

I would have had to go to loan sharks and people like that,

who I didn't really want to go to, because you're paying double,

treble the money. So they've really helped me out.

Alan is looking for a loan to take his family away on holiday.

I've asked for £500 and it's to go abroad.

I've made an application, I've done it online.

My holiday plans are to drive through to Spain

and just relax for two weeks,

and really enjoy the sunshine and get to meet the local people.

I'm really looking forward to it.

The person weighing up whether Alan will get his loan today is manager

-Martin.

-We always make it quite clear,

it's not guaranteed that you're going to get a loan

and this is a guy who, in the past,

has had problems with getting credit,

as many people do at some times.

There are things that happen in your life, they're never guaranteed.

Over the years he's had problems with paying.

Other people have encouraged him into higher and higher cost debt

and at some point he came to struggle with that.

If I didn't get the loan, I'd be really upset, because, like I say,

it's going to help us with our holiday,

more so for the petrol for the car and all this,

as my wife can't really fly.

So I'm really hoping I get the loan.

It's the moment of truth for Alan,

who's about to discover whether his loan has been approved.

Hi, Alan, do you want to come on over?

-Yeah, sure.

-How are you keeping?

-I'm keeping all right, yeah.

-Good. When are you going on holiday?

-July, yeah.

Marvellous stuff, what's this, you're spending money?

This is me spending money, a bit of fuel and all that,

and the tolls of course, in France and Spain, you have to pay a toll.

Of course you do, on the motorway.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

What I thought I'd do with you is just go through your loan.

-It's been approved.

-Oh, great stuff!

I've got all your documentation here,

but I thought with you I'd just go through

how we make the loan decision.

-Yeah, sure.

-Just so you know what we're doing, really.

-Oh, right, yeah.

-Regular payer and you have previous loans,

you've always been honest with us.

-Yeah, of course I have, yeah.

-So that's how we've approved the loan.

-Oh, right.

-I've just printed off the documents while you were waiting.

So that's the sum you're borrowing.

-Right, yeah, that's right.

-That's your existing balance.

-That's it, yeah.

-New balance.

-OK.

And then it will take 18 months to repay.

-Right, yeah.

-And the total interest is just £322.

-Yeah, yeah.

The main thing to remember is you can't touch the money in

your first savings account while you've got the loan.

Yeah, yeah, that's been explained to me before.

Yeah, I know. I have to tell you every time.

Yeah, of course you do, yeah.

Sign that there, same place?

Yeah. Remember, if you have a problem with money,

just talk to us and we can sort something out, yeah?

Great stuff! Thanks very much, and you don't know what it means to me.

-Keep the missus happy!

-Yeah, it will, it will, yeah.

Like I say, we have to drive, so...

-That's right.

-I'm really looking forward to it.

-OK, thanks ever so much.

-Thank you very much.

-Take care, Alan.

-If you could give some of these out to people.

-I will.

-Colleagues at work.

-I'll put them up on the notice board at work.

-That's smashing.

-Thank you very much.

-Thanks, Alan, bye.

-Enjoy your holiday.

-Great, yeah, see ya.

I'm feeling really great,

over the moon that I was accepted and got the loan.

It's a little bit of stress taken off me shoulders

and I can go away and enjoy my holiday and I've got that little bit

of extra cash if I need it.

He's a classic example of how credit union is able to help people move

from being a borrower into having significant levels of savings.

He's now got himself really sorted,

it's always a pleasure to see people move in that way.

We're very happy and I'm sure we'll get a postcard.

My wife will be over the moon, she was waiting for this decision,

she'll be really happy,

because she's the one who really wants to go on holiday, you know.

While credit unions are there to cater for personal loans,

like the one Alan needs,

there are also responsible lenders across the UK specifically set up to

help people who want to start up their own business,

but find it difficult to get credit elsewhere.

The high street banks basically all said no to me.

I knew there was absolutely no chance of any of the high street

banks giving me any money whatsoever.

It's help from an ethical lender that's enabled 36-year-old Peter to

transform from a bankrupt publican

to the owner of a blossoming chocolate business.

It is quite a random thing to have, to be honest,

especially in this country.

I think if I was in Bruges,

they probably wouldn't really think too much about it,

but I'm in Leicester.

Long before Peter realised he wanted to work with chocolate,

he knew he wanted to work for himself.

My dad and my grandad were both self-employed kind of entrepreneurs.

My dad was a painter and decorator and he started his own firm

when he was fairly young - 20.

And in the '60s, my grandad was an engineer

and he bought a factory in our home village.

So growing up, I've always wanted to be self-employed.

Despite having an eye on self-employment from an early age,

Peter had no idea what kind of business he wanted to go into.

I left school with very, very few qualifications.

Then went into bartending.

Which then suddenly took over my life and I was...

..I think within six months I was assistant manager there,

working my way up. And did that for about eight years.

Then went on to a larger national pub company.

I was very naive.

And around about 23,

I signed a franchise agreement on a pub with a national pub company.

It wasn't long before Peter's lack of experience

stopped him in his tracks.

And I was bankrupt within a year.

Now bankrupt, Peter wasn't only a million miles

from working for himself,

he couldn't find a job at all.

I must have sent 100 CVs out.

It was rejection after rejection after rejection.

And spent about two years kind of unemployed,

just trying to work out what I wanted to do.

Peter knew that if he was ever going to succeed,

he was going to have to take control of his own life.

I decided on chocolate through there being a lack of good

handmade chocolate shops on the high street.

We just went for a walk through the town centre and

saw like a branded high-street chain of chocolate retailer and thought

that I could probably do better than that.

There is no handmade chain of chocolate shops

on the UK high street anywhere.

The larger national brands don't hand-make their products in store.

They centralise at a factory and they are brought in and just

retailed from the shop.

I wanted to create something which was handmade

in store at an affordable price.

Despite having a plan, Peter had never made chocolate in his life.

I practised at home. I read some books

and taught myself, using YouTube.

I think you build up muscle memory.

And it's almost second nature to me now.

I don't even really need to be looking at what I'm doing.

After about two months,

I felt that I had a rough product that I could then use to build

a business plan and pitch my idea for funding.

Having taught himself the tricks of his chosen trade,

Peter now needed financial backing.

Being bankrupt, I knew straight out of the gate that

traditional high-street lenders weren't going to touch me.

The computer would literally say no,

pretty much as soon as I walked through the door.

So I shopped around and kind of did a lot of research and I discovered

Enterprise Loans East Midlands.

Off the strength of an idea and a very basic business plan,

they said yes to the idea of me being able to kind of work

with one of their loan officers and get to the point

where I could pitch my idea to their panel of trustees.

I did take bribes of chocolate possibly with me.

So that might have helped.

First Enterprise is a not-for-profit organisation that supports start-up

businesses throughout the East Midlands.

Suqvia is a loans adviser with them.

The criteria is not discriminative to anybody.

Hence why if you have a business idea,

we encourage you to come to us,

because of the fact that that could be the

functionality of getting you out of unemployment

into self-employment.

Or if you are employed and you think,

"Well, actually, you know what?

"I've got this cracking idea, I want to get rolling with it."

We have no problems with that at all.

So, yes, it is open for everybody.

With a loan application of £15,000 granted,

a delighted Peter was in a world of pure imagination.

Do you know that scene in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,

where he finds that golden ticket and then skips home?

It was quite similar to that.

But I had to go on a train to Nottingham

and then get the cheque.

It didn't feel quite real, because...

..nobody would support me and then all of a sudden

I've got a cheque for £15,000 to fund my project.

That was spent on the fit-out of the shop, the lease, equipment,

stock, marketing and PR, the brand.

With financial backing in place, Peter's business soon flourished.

Winning a number of awards and doing so well,

he soon needed to move to bigger premises.

This machine is something we bought with some of the funding.

We do get orders now for chocolates for up to 7,000,

8,000 truffles at a time that we need to turn around very quickly.

And you wouldn't be able to do that just using small kind of domestic

appliances and kind of smaller chocolate melting tanks.

Peter's drive and passion have seen him succeed against the odds.

I got told by a lot of people that I couldn't be self-employed again

for a while because my credit was so bad that I'd never be able

to kind of run a business.

Opening a business whilst bankrupt and having that on your record

is kind of near impossible.

And I like near impossible tasks, so...

It's a challenge. And that's why I kind of just ran at it.

Peter has even received the ultimate accolade,

being asked to present his confectionery to royalty.

We were asked to make chocolates for the Queen

on her visit for the Maundy service at Leicester Cathedral.

When you've got two days' notice

to make chocolates for the Queen,

er...what do you make her?

So, she's a 92-year-old lady.

So we crafted a very nice butter salted caramel,

which tastes just like a liquid Werther's Original.

And that's what we served her.

She enjoyed it, apparently.

Peter is now following in the entrepreneurial footsteps

of his father and grandfather before him.

My first business didn't work.

So I tried again. I think that's the attitude of an entrepreneur.

You just don't quit.

Peter firmly believes that with determination,

anyone can do what he's done.

Once you have your idea, there's nothing stopping you.

Nothing stops you.

Bankruptcy can't even stop you.

I have literally gone from being bankrupt

to making chocolates for the Queen within eight years.

And who doesn't want to work with chocolate?

There are 223 million credit union members in 109 different countries.

Have you already registered for access on the website?

In the UK, one credit union supporting its local community

is Lewisham and Bromley.

Founding member Liam works at the headquarters in Sydenham.

We have a diverse mix of people who are in work,

in between work, retired,

we have families, we have mums,

so we are all generations which is very important.

Of our current membership of about 10,000 members,

7,000 of them are female.

Thanks very much. Thank you. Bye.

Two of those members, Joy and Christina,

have turned up to withdraw some money from their savings.

We have come to get Granny some money that she's saved.

She wants a new shed, so she's going to do that.

I got my shed last month.

So, yeah, we are great friends and we save together and do what we can.

-Good morning.

-Morning.

-Morning. Can I help you?

Yeah, I'm just filling out the form for her.

-Filling out the form.

-Is it for you?

-Yes, please.

-Have you got some ID?

-Yes.

-We've been friends for 42 years.

I was a member first.

She is a member. And then she introduced me.

And we are enjoying it.

I'm really, really enjoying it, you know.

Joy and Christina also like to treat themselves from time to time.

Well, we like to go away long weekends...

-Yeah.

-We might go Blackpool.

-Yeah.

-We've been a few places, haven't we?

Yes, exactly. Yes, exactly. We enjoy ourselves.

Especially with the age that I am now.

I have to be going out and seeing things.

-Enjoying myself.

-She is 80.

She'll be 81 this year.

So she's doing fantastic.

-Yes.

-20, 40...

Joy also has an eye on some holiday clothes.

-OK.

-Yes, please.

-Thank you.

-Lovely shoes and handbag and buy some shorts.

No, Gran, you're not wearing shorts this year.

When we go out on holidays, I have to wear some shorts...

-No, Gran.

-..to show my big bum.

I don't think you're supposed to say that, Gran.

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you so much, yes.

Still to come, how a mum of six went from work to benefits to bankrupt.

I felt like my whole world had fallen apart.

And a loan helps a former classroom assistant set up her own nursery.

Hi, how are you doing?

I wanted to create the home environment

and that injection of cash allowed me to do that.

Financially, a lot of us are living from day to day,

with millions of people in the UK having less than £100 in savings.

But you never know what life can throw at you.

My mum passed away and her funeral costs

were probably about just over two grand.

When I lost my job, the money stopped.

I couldn't sleep at night. I was crying.

I was a motorcycle courier.

Everything was going well.

And then I had a smack up.

I broke an arm, broke a leg.

And that ended up with me not working.

There are many negative life events that can hurt you.

For example, a divorce, redundancy,

maybe even just your car breaking down and having to replace it.

Most of us are living just within our means,

so that something that happens that's unexpected

can actually tip us over the edge

and mean that we start to struggle with money.

That can be an unexpected death in the family, it can mean divorce,

it can mean you lose your job.

A rainy day fund can really help cover those immediate costs

and outgoings in the first few months.

Typically, as a minimum, you would save about three months

of your outgoings.

But in an ideal world, we'd be up at six months.

The key here is to make a start if you've not already.

Even just putting aside £3 a day

can really add up to over £1,000 over the course of the year.

You never know what might be around the corner.

When Stephanie met Paul at the age of 20,

she had no idea of the path their lives were about to take.

I met Paul in a Chinese takeaway.

I was working. He was a customer.

One day, I gave him my phone number.

And then from there,

we moved in a week later and got married 12 weeks after that.

So, it was very quick.

It's very whirlwind.

At 20 years old, I got married to Paul.

Then we had six children.

We had our eldest child, Hannah, who is 19 now.

Perfect child, textbook, slept through the night,

was really lovely.

Then along came Anakin, who was very poorly from 11 days old.

Taken up to London and put onto life support.

Had RSV bronchiolitis.

And he was really poorly and we didn't actually know

if he was going to make it. But he did, he pulled through.

And he was then diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder.

Two years later, their third child arrived.

We had Theo. We subsequently found out when Theo

was about eight that he also had autism

and dyspraxia.

And so they were quite challenging.

And then very quickly after Theo, a year and 12 days,

along came Charlotte.

Lottie, we've always called her Lottie.

Also diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder.

She doesn't understand facial expressions.

None of them do, but with Charlotte, it's far more prominent.

And then Dominic come along, lovely, my little ginger ninja.

And then along came Jake, who...

It was quite evident quite quickly with Jake

that he had some additional needs.

And they diagnosed him with autism

and I felt like my whole world had fallen apart.

How could I have another child on the spectrum?

With four of their six children having additional needs,

Stephanie and Paul struggled to juggle the demands of home

with their jobs.

We would go into work and we would be called out of work.

We would go back to work and would be called back out of work.

We would have days where our son was so poorly that he would have been in

hospital the night before and he would need support

all through the day.

And so we were unreliable. And it's not nice.

You know, it's not nice

turning around and saying to your employer constantly, "Actually,

"I can't make it in because my child is ill."

We tried and tried and tried so hard to maintain jobs and maintain a home

life and it just...

It really was evident that it wasn't going to happen.

So we then both became full-time carers to our children.

So that was really hard and that was actually probably the hardest thing.

For three years, the family were forced to rely on benefits.

It hit us, really hit us hard,

we had gone from sort of a £2,000 to £3,000 a month income

to £232 carers' allowance.

We ended up declaring ourselves bankrupt.

Life had hit rock-bottom.

But Stephanie had a plan.

Once her children had the education they needed,

she was able to focus on getting off benefits and back to work.

The only way we were going to do it ever

would be to have our own business,

because if we need to leave, we can leave, if I need to close,

I can close, if I need to take a phone call,

I can take a phone call and nobody is going to moan at me.

With a diploma in floristry,

Stephanie knew what the business should be.

But with no savings and the bankruptcy

having blown her credit rating,

she knew she'd struggle to get funding.

We couldn't go to the bank because we had been on benefits.

We didn't have any idea what our monthly income

would be on our business.

We didn't have any massive amount of security.

We had made a few enquiries like on a hypothetical basis

and it was just basically a resounding no.

Stephanie turned to Kent Savers for help.

So, we approached the credit union for a loan of £8,000.

And that was to consolidate debt that we had

and also to put towards the business.

Despite her credit history and situation,

the credit union granted Stephanie the loan,

enabling her to open a flower shop in Ramsgate, in Kent.

PHONE RINGS

Efflorescence Floristry, good afternoon.

OK, so it'll be a £15 mixed bouquet with gerberas.

All right, thanks, lovely. Bye.

So the business started on the 6th of March 2016.

So not very long. So just over a year.

We started that in a little shed in my back garden.

Which was really sweet, I did love it,

but it became too small too quickly.

So we took the plunge for premises

and ended up here in July of 2016.

The reality of, "Actually, we can do this," was exciting, terrifying,

lovely, a whole range of emotions.

And then, the reality hits

that you've got to make an empty shell into your business.

The first two weeks I remember thinking, "What have I done?"

Oh, my goodness! There was like hardly any customers, it was like...

There was enough work, but it was very slow

and then after sort of two or three weeks, it just boomed.

-Hello, lovely.

-Can I pre-order a bouquet?

-For when?

-For next Wednesday.

One year on, and Stephanie has many regular customers.

I always come here for my flowers

because she's so talented and they are amazing.

-I like that.

-See? And we can make it pretty but wild.

If you've got a dream, you should go for it.

And if anyone is going to show you that it can be done,

it's going to be Steph.

Business is getting busier, which is lovely.

Home-life balance is getting better.

-Which is good.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-Look at those! They are gorgeous!

Oh, my favourite colour as well. Look at that! So nice, so nice.

-I'm glad you like them.

-Yeah, I do. I do.

Well, you know what I'm like with my gerberas.

They're beautiful. And I love the pink as well.

The shop is just amazing.

I'm so, so proud of her. It's been hard work.

And she's done amazingly well.

She's just like Super-mum, Super-wife,

and Super-businesswoman because she never seems to get tired or...

..and she's never grumpy.

-Bye, lovely. Bye.

-Bye, lovely. Take care, bye.

-Bye.

Getting the £8,000 loan has transformed the lives

of Stephanie and her family.

It's a massive lifestyle change.

Not only financially, but also emotionally and socially

and for wellbeing, you know.

It covers all of them, because suddenly we are not just parents,

we are not just a mum, not just a carer to our child.

The credit union movement in England was started in the 1960s,

when Caribbean immigrants found they couldn't get loans

from traditional banks.

They approached the mainstream banks,

didn't have any credit history here in the United Kingdom,

and they were getting an awful lot of rejections.

Caribbean communities had a lot of established credit unions

back in the Caribbean.

So they said, "Why don't we start our own credit union here?"

If you can afford 100, it is entirely up to you.

We are basically here to help the community.

We are for the people that maybe the high-street banks

feel are too much of a risk.

So we are willing to take that risk with these members.

And, hopefully, maybe rebuild their financial history as a whole.

Expansion was slow at first,

but the last ten years has seen a massive growth in membership,

as more and more people have discovered them.

I really think that the credit union is there for everyone.

And it's really doing good in the community.

Thank you. You're welcome. Thanks.

In Islington, Sheila is visiting her local credit union for a loan.

About three years ago, I came to the credit union

and I took out a loan to pay off a debt which was £1,800.

I paid that off quite quickly.

And when I saw that my savings was going up alongside the loan coming

down, I decided to carry on saving and that's what I've done.

And I've just watched it accumulate.

Savvy Saver Sheila has a plan.

I'm going to try and take a loan,

because the actual interest on the loan is very low.

I've made a loan application for 3,500

and going to put that partly towards the cost of a car

and the rest towards running costs.

Hi, Sheila, do you want to come on over?

-Yes, thank you.

-How are you keeping?

-I'm fine, thanks.

-Good.

Sheila currently lives off a private pension.

But a loan from the credit union

could open the door for her to go back into employment.

I think having a car improves everyone's independence.

It will open up more job opportunities for me

so then I could start maybe

looking at getting back into employment.

We've had a look at your loan application.

-Oh, fantastic.

-It was for a car, wasn't it?

It's going mainly towards a car...

-Yeah.

-..and running costs as well.

Have you identified what you are going to buy or...?

Have you got your heart set on something?

I'm not definite, but I've got a few ideas.

-Not a Maserati?

-No.

-No, OK. Didn't think so. OK.

Before agreeing to a loan,

Martin needs to weigh up what Sheila wants against what he is confident

she can afford to repay.

People borrow money for a whole host of reasons,

but often it's to get a brilliant business idea off the ground.

That loan is like the first catalyst of a series of events that got us to

where we are now.

Not for the faint-hearted.

When you see the end result, that's the real joy of it.

These days, there are a number of not-for-profit lenders

willing to take a chance and help make dreams come true.

The money enabled me to branch out and expand and become the polished

brand that I am today.

There's no looking back. The only way that we can go is up.

One such loan helped Vicky from Gloucester...

Perfect timing. Hi. Morning, Jacob.

-Good morning.

-Hi, how are you doing?

In 2010, she borrowed £15,000 from the Fredericks Foundation

to fund the opening of her own nursery.

Today we've got 49 children coming in.

Our youngest is seven months, right up to five years.

So we've got a baby unit, a baby room,

a toddler room and a preschool room.

And then later on in the day,

we have some after-school club children

that we collect from local schools.

Vicky had dreamt of having her own childcare business for a long time.

Well, that's a lovely rainbow on your T-shirt.

My first feeling of wanting to work with children

was at the age of about nine,

at Butlins, and I wanted to be a holiday camp clown

and do all the games with the children and run the show.

I didn't want to be on the stage,

I wanted to be the children's entertainer.

Are they magic beads?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Whoa! I do like magic.

-Like Jack And The Beanstalk.

Like Jack And The Beanstalk, it is, isn't it?

He had some magic beans.

You don't have the same day twice.

You never know what you're going to get when you come in to work.

Everything with children is magic.

Everything is new.

Everything is fun.

Let's have... It's a face! What does it smell like?

-Josh, do you want to smell it?

-HE SHRIEKS

-Are you ready?

-Yeah.

-I'm going to get you.

-Wa-hey!

-SHE LAUGHS

Vicky may not have had experience in business, but one thing she had a

wealth of experience in was childcare.

I started at 16, I was classroom

helper in schools with reception year.

Have progressed through the channels.

Lots of small independents, small chains.

National companies.

Eight years ago, I became pregnant with my first child

and it was just a turning point for me that if I was going

to do my own thing then I needed to do it then.

The next step for Vicky was to find

the perfect place to start her business.

I contacted a couple of local commercial letting agents

and one chap turned around instantly and said,

"I've got the perfect place, let me show you."

And I met him here and fell in love

as soon as I walked through the door.

Armed with her business plan and the perfect venue,

Vicky turned to the high-street banks, hoping to secure a loan.

They turned her down.

But she was determined to find a way to get her business off the ground.

So I then went from the conventional method of bank loans to looking at

actual business start-up loans and somebody recommended

the Fredericks Foundation.

The Fredericks Foundation is part of a community finance initiative

that helps ordinary people that can't borrow elsewhere.

Duncan Parker dealt with Vicky's loan application.

We really loved the idea.

We were very taken with Vicky and her idea right from the start.

Vicky was both knowledgeable and skilled about

running a nursery. She had done it most of her career.

Her knowledge locally was second to none.

And she had done loads of market research and background on how many

babies had been born recently in the locality,

what the nursery provision was like elsewhere.

And she really backed herself to be able to fill those places that she

needed to fill in order to have a successful business.

Their limit at the time for new business start-up was 10,000.

So I knew I was pushing my luck, going for 15.

So I went in with my business plan tucked under my arm

and sat in front of the panel and obviously shared my passion.

And walked out of there with 15,000.

She presented with a really good business plan,

she presented with a cash flow forecast.

A very realistic cash flow forecast, which is quite unusual.

And that really convinced us that she was the right person to back.

With her loan secured, Vicky wasted no time getting to work.

The money went on the building renovation, the room creations,

I wanted a separate sleep room, I wanted a separate dining room.

I wanted to create the home environment.

And that injection of cash allowed me to do that.

Adapting the building from its previous life

as a community social club was no easy task.

Seven years ago, this was a skittle alley.

This whole side was the skittle run.

And the pit was that half of the kitchen.

And then this half was carpeted with tables from the bar.

ALL: # Please and thank you

# I must say

# Every day. #

Now the room has been transformed into a bright

kitchen dining facility and Vicky was able to hire a cook.

Having well-nourished children is an essential part to kind of day-to-day

running, so, obviously, if you've got hungry children,

they can't sit and concentrate, they can't join activities,

so obviously it has a massive impact throughout the day.

Are you ready? Right, I'll put it there, you eat it when you're ready.

Vicky's nursery soon became such a success

she was taking on more staff.

We started off with four staff and we started off with a handful of

children, half a dozen children.

And in a small town, it doesn't take long for word to get around.

It's green.

As the numbers increased, we regularly recruited staff.

-Ready, Jacob? Go!

-Splash!

-LAUGHTER

And we gradually put in place a training plan.

Three of our senior management team now were trained by us

and have gone from apprentice right through to management over the

-seven-year period.

-Shall we do the bunny black and white?

Yes. You can do it if you want to.

-Shall I do the bunny?

-Yeah.

Thanks.

The nursery has gone from strength to strength

and its success has brought some welcome benefits.

With regards to the loan, I agreed

to repay that over a five-year period

and was actually fortunate enough

to have repaid that early and we paid it within three years,

due to numbers increasing

and wanting to clear it as quickly as possible.

-Bye!

-VICKY LAUGHS

With a strong and thriving business under her belt,

Vicky is able to stand back and enjoy what she has achieved.

-Are you ready?

-They will all go soggy.

Put one handful of yellow on there.

-EXCITED SHRIEKING

-No!

To be able to just pop out of my office, see this,

see the staff enjoying their time with them,

and hear the children and everything,

it just makes it all so worthwhile.

Just all the risks, all the headaches, everything.

I couldn't imagine doing anything else...ever.

In Islington...

Could you confirm your address, please?

..Sheila is waiting for a decision on her loan.

She is after £3,500 for a new car to help her get back into employment.

A lot of people think that I come here just because it's an ethical

choice, but I actually come to the credit union

because it makes good financial sense

to come to the credit union.

And I think if you are interested about

putting things back into the community, that is a bonus.

This is precisely what she's done with the three years' worth

of savings she's built up at her local credit union.

We are one of the few, if any, financial institutions

that encourage people to save rather than borrow.

And at the same time, they know that those savings

are helping other people escape from a cycle of debt and poverty.

Sheila is about to discover whether her loan has been granted

and she can get back on the road to employment.

Hi, Sheila, do you want to come on over?

-Yes, thank you.

-How are you keeping?

-I'm fine, thanks.

-Good.

We've had a look at your loan application.

So...

I'm pleased to tell you it's been approved.

Oh, that's fantastic. Thanks very much.

We're going to increase the payments slightly based on what

-you put on the application.

-OK.

So, I'll just go through the loan agreement with you.

So here's the sum of money that you're borrowing.

-Yep.

-You don't have any existing balance.

-Yep.

-It will be paid off over 24 months.

If I was to make some payments extra on top...

-Yeah.

-So that I was paying it over 12 months instead of 24...

The interest would be... No penalty. There is no set-up fee.

There is no earlier repayment fee.

The interest is calculated on a daily basis.

So every time you pay an extra pound, the interest goes down.

The idea is this is to suit your convenience.

What makes it easier for the members is easiest for us.

That's great, thank you.

So, obviously the quicker you pay it off...

The total interest is there on the whole of the loan.

So it is a nice, cheap loan. Have a read through.

-Yeah.

-And if you're happy with them, you sign...

-Sign there and there, please.

-Sign there?

-Yes, please.

On both copies. I'll do one and you do one.

One for you, one for me. You can top up the loan any time you want to.

But if you do have any problems, there's a phone number.

Just give us a call, we'll sort something out.

Obviously, you'll want to come and see us...

-Definitely.

-Thanks, Sheila.

-Thank you.

-Good luck with the car.

-Oh, brilliant.

-Thank you.

-Take care.

-Bye.

-Bye.

It can be stressful, like any job, it can be very busy.

On the other hand, you go home, just every day,

knowing that you've helped somebody.

Yeah, I'm really pleased. Yeah, and it fits in

with my other savings plans as well

that I've already got with the credit union, so that's brilliant.

Since our filming,

Peter has opened a new store in Market Harborough and is hoping to

eventually franchise out his brand...

Who doesn't want to work with chocolate?

Vicky has started planning for nursery number three...

SHE LAUGHS

Bye!

..and Stephanie's floristry business has won a contract

to supply weddings at a major hotel chain.

She's looking to expand and has found new, larger premises,

so will probably be back to the credit union

for another loan quite soon.

There is a huge sense of achievement, of satisfaction,

of pride, I guess, to a point because I have

completely changed mine,

my husband's and my children's lives.