Serve and Protect Credit Union is a free employee benefit available to Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV) employees. We make saving simple and automatic with deductions straight from your wages, improving your financial resilience. If you need further support, we also provide an ethical and affordable option to borrow with repayments from your pay.
How we support TEWV employees
As a credit union, we are a not-for-profit financial cooperative owned by our members. Each credit union supports a specific community of people. At Serve and Protect, we are here to help those working in the NHS, police, prison, military, and fire services across Britain to improve their financial resilience.
How do we do this? By helping you to save direct from your wages, we make saving money automatic and effortless. Once you join us and decide how much to save each month, we handle everything for you! Your savings are deducted through TEWV payroll and deposited into your account with us, giving you a place to turn when you need additional funds.
However, there may be times where your savings alone are not quite enough. That’s why we also offer personal loans to help you borrow affordably and with ease. With clear rates, repayments from your wages through TEWV payroll, and no early repayment penalties or hidden charges, borrowing with us is simple. Plus, with a friendly team available to answer all your questions, we guide you through the whole process.
But we are more than just a place to save and borrow. We want to give you the tools to manage your own financial journey with confidence. To achieve this, we deliver a range of financial education both in person and online. Through induction sessions with new TEWV employees, online webinars covering everything from how to improve your credit score to creating your first budget plan, and podcast interviews with financial experts, you will quickly learn the skills to manage your money effectively.
Transforming the financial resilience of the Trust
Before working with Serve and Protect, the Trust’s Health and Wellbeing team were witnessing a range of issues regarding employees’ financial wellbeing. They were becoming concerned about financial vulnerability and the possible implications.
Financial vulnerability can have knock-on effects for individuals, such as financial stress. Ongoing stress can have severe implications for both mental and physical health, often leading to burnout. The impact on organisations can also be extremely damaging, with reduced morale and increased absenteeism and staff turnover.
Working with Serve and Protect helped address the unique challenges faced by TEWV employees. The partnership enabled tailored solutions to combat financial vulnerability within the Trust. By offering salary-deducted savings and affordable credit, staff can better handle financial challenges. This improves their ability to focus on their work. TEWV employees have felt the positive impact, as has the Trust, with improved patient care and higher staff retention.
But don’t just take our word for it. We asked TEWV’s Staff Health and Wellbeing Lead, Russell Smith, and Health and Wellbeing Coordinator, Diane Taylor, about their experience working with the credit union. Watch the video at the top of the page to hear what they had to say. You can also hear how we have supported another NHS Trust in a similar way here.
Who are Serve and Protect Credit Union?
The credit union was established in 2003 to help police officers and staff to save and borrow responsibly. Since then, we have opened our services up to the wider public sector. This includes the NHS and private healthcare services, HM Prison and Probation Service, the armed forces, and fire and rescue services across Britain.
We partner with employers across these services to help their colleagues to save and borrow responsibly and access tailored educational sessions. After partnering with TEWV, we quickly started to understand some of the unique challenges facing staff and developed focused educational inputs to upskill their people. By learning about their finances and saving through TEWV payroll, employees can put what they learn into practice and start to budget their finances for long-term financial stability.
As an organisation owned by and operated for their members, we care deeply about improving their lives beyond responsible finance. One way we do this is through the Friends of Serve and Protect Community Fund, which is funded by our member lottery. The Community Fund provided a grant of £2,478 to develop and maintain the Trust’s staff wellbeing spaces. We don’t just care about our members’ finances. We care about them full stop.
Ready for the next step in your financial journey?
If you’re not already a member of Serve and Protect, you can join for free and start saving automatically through TEWV payroll. You can change your savings deduction any time and if you have any questions, our team are on hand to answer your call.
Plus, by saving with the credit union, you help to provide access to affordable credit for your fellow members and colleagues. It’s all about people helping people!
Start your journey to financial resilience by becoming a member today.
