Serve and Protect Credit Union is a free employee benefit available to South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust (STSFT) staff. We make saving simple by allowing you to save directly from your wages. This makes saving automatic and helps build your financial resilience. If you need extra financial support, we also provide a responsible and affordable way to borrow throughout your career and beyond.
Our role as a free STSFT employee benefit
As a credit union, we are proud to serve as a not-for-profit financial cooperative that supports specific communities. These include groups such as the police, prison, military, fire, NHS, and private healthcare providers across Britain. Our commitment is to improve the financial resilience of those who serve and protect our nation.
Our primary goal is simple. We help you save regularly, ensuring you have funds to rely on during a financial emergency. How do we make this easy? By partnering with STSFT, we enable STSFT staff to save directly from their wages each month. Once you join us and decide how much to save, we handle everything for you. You can simply set it, forget it, and your savings will be ready whenever you need them.
We also recognise that savings alone may not always meet your needs. There may be times in your career when you need a little extra support. That’s why we offer affordable loans to help you manage life’s unexpected turns. With transparent rates, repayments deducted directly from your wages, and no early repayment penalties or fees, we make borrowing straightforward and stress-free. What you see is truly what you get.
Beyond financial products, we want to equip you with the tools and skills to manage your finances effectively. Through STSFT staff induction briefs, free online ‘lunch-and-learn’ webinars, financial tools and calculators, podcast episodes, articles, and more, we’re here to guide you on your financial journey with confidence and ease.
But don’t just take our word for it. We spoke with Jake Higgins, the Trust’s Senior Inclusion Advisor, Mayflor Bernal, International Recruitment Chair, and Tracy Pender, People Promise Manager. They shared their thoughts on how we’ve helped improve the financial resilience of STSFT staff since we launched in 2022. Watch the short video at the top of the page to hear their stories and experiences. You can also hear how we have supported another NHS Trust in a similar way here.
Who are Serve and Protect Credit Union?
Serve and Protect Credit Union was established in 2003 to help police officers and staff better manage their finances. Over the years, we expanded our community to include HM Prison & Probation Service and the armed forces. By 2020, we opened our services to the entire emergency services community, welcoming the NHS, private healthcare services, and the fire and rescue service.
We launched with STSFT in 2022 as our first NHS Trust. From the start, we focused on understanding the unique challenges faced by STSFT staff. This allowed us to develop tailored solutions that improve their financial resilience. Through in-person educational sessions on budgeting, improving credit scores, and managing the financial impacts of domestic violence (among others), we’ve helped STSFT staff gain better control of their finances. With the added STSFT employee benefit of saving directly from salary, staff can easily implement what they’ve learned and manage their money effectively.
Beyond finances, we also recognise the importance of mental and physical wellbeing. The Friends of Serve and Protect Community Fund, funded by members through our lottery, provided a £1,500 grant to support the STSFT wellbeing library and wellbeing space at South Tyneside District Hospital. Members can also apply to the Community Fund for support, helping their workforce and the wider Serve and Protect family thrive.
Ready to start your journey to financial resilience?
We’re proud of the work we’ve done to support the Trust as a free STSFT employee benefit. But there’s still more we want to achieve.
If you’re not yet a member of Serve and Protect, join today and start saving through STSFT payroll. It’s completely free to join and save. Plus, by saving with the credit union, you help provide vital funds for your colleagues and fellow members to borrow when they need extra support.
Start your journey to financial resilience by joining for free on our website. We’re here to help you manage your finances with confidence.
