Launched in 2016 in partnership with The Credit Union Foundation and Citi Foundation, CU Futures is a 10-month development programme, including an industry standard qualification accredited by the London Institute of Banking and Finance, to give meaningful development support to future credit union managers, directors and leaders.
The aim is to make CU Futures a sustainable programme, to attract and retain talent within the credit union movement, and to educate and strengthen the sector by providing the necessary tools and resources to develop strong leadership.
See Current Programme HERE
Candidates worked on a group project towards addressing challenges facing the credit union sector. The future leaders received their scrolls at the ABCUL Annual Conference Manchester in March 2017. One of the key aims is retaining young talent and equipping them with the relevant skills and knowledge to manage credit unions and support sustainability and succession planning for the sector.
The participants: – Emma Cameron (HI-Scot Credit Union) Amie Ellis (Derbyshire Community Bank) Lauren Foley (Hull & East Yorkshire Credit Union) Kirsty Gallagher (Central Liverpool Credit Union) Aimee Hastings (1st Class Credit Union) Jonathan Juppet (East Sussex Credit Union) Ruksana Kauser (Calderdale Credit Union) Matt London (London Capital Credit Union) Nathan McNaught (Advance Credit Union) Natalie McQuade (NHS Credit Union) Janet Palmer (Lewisham Plus Credit Union) Joe Platt (South Manchester Credit Union) Daniel Peers (Enterprise Credit Union) Diego Quiroga Martinez (Crownsavers CU) Nicola Saunders (1st Alliance Ayrshire Credit Union) Debbie Smith-Hands (Pennine Community CU) Danny Thomas (Norwich Credit Union) Johanna Williamson (TransaveUK Credit Union) Nick Froud
The second CU Futures graduation ceremony took place In March 2018 as part of the ABCUL annual conference. Once again it was a very special occasion to see another class of passionate and committed young people celebrating their hard work and achievements over the past year.
The participants: Jodie Bastable from Pennine Community Credit Union Tom Brockley from Darlington Credit Union Matthew Butler from FairShare Credit Union Nicola Dobson from NHS Scotland & North England Credit Union Lori Forsyth from East Kilbride Credit Union Lauren Humphris from The Pentecostal Credit Union Mikey Jones from Police Credit Union Toni Lynn from Enterprise Credit Union Luke McGilvray from 1st Class Credit Union Andrew Moulding from Clevr Money Shannon Scott from Mosshill Credit Union Mohammed Rizwan Shams from Cardiff & The Vale Credit Union Callum Skears from Commsave Credit Union Gemma Thomson from Greenwich & Bexley Credit Union
Participants Stacey Mitchinson – 1st Class Credit Union Caterina Angieri – Commsave Credit Union Aisha Stewart – London Mutual Credit Union Adam Wilson – NE First Credit Union David Cairns – NHS Credit Union Rachel Edwards – Nottingham Credit Union Jaspreet Kaur – Penny Post Credit Union Olivia Sharman – Transave UK
The candidates worked on a group project towards addressing challenges facing the credit union sector. From the 8 candidates in 2019 they were split into groups of 2 to work together and presented their project to a panel on completion at the ABCUL 2019 AGM Conference. the winners were Aisha Stewart (London Mutual Credit Union) and Caterina Angieri(Commsave Credit Union) with their excellent concept and presentation of a UK credit union staff exchange Hub.
Participants: Stacey Mitchinson – 1st Class Credit Union Caterina Angieri – Commsave Credit Union Aisha Stewart – London Mutual Credit Union Adam Wilson – NE First Credit Union David Cairns – NHS Credit Union Rachel Edwards – Nottingham Credit Union Jaspreet Kaur – Penny Post Credit Union Olivia Sharman – Transave UK
The flagship young professionals development programme celebrated the graduation of its fourth cohort of participants at the ABCUL Annual Conference in March 2020 bringing the total number of participants to complete CU Futures since its inception to 49. Each year candidates work on a group project to address a challenge facing the credit union sector.
Participants:- Gurmeet Singh Chahal – 1st Class Credit Union, Kieran Hughes – Enterprise Credit Union, Connor Keefe – First Rate Credit Union, Martyna Styzinska – Pennine Community Credit Union, Hannah Copson – Penny Post Credit Union, Jade Johnson – Plane Saver Credit UnionAmy Shippley – Police Credit Union.
The CU Futures class of 2020 & 2021 graduated in front of the assembled delegate Saturday the Abcul Conference in 2022. It was a double graduation due to the covid-19 pandemic making a halt to the class of 2020’s graduation.
Since March 2022, this year’s class of CU Futures have undertaken a range of activities focused on their personal development as well as expanding their exposure to the wider sector and supporting them to think strategically about the future of credit unions in Britain. Congratulate this year’s graduates of the CU Futures programme 2022. Niamh Evans – ABCUL, Liam Cartwright – Enterprise Credit Union, Maya Birr-Paxton – HEY Credit Union, Tanya Aspbury – Penny Post Credit Union, Thomas Sutton – Serve & Protect Credit Union, Joel Williams – The Co-op Credit Union, Gemma Graves TransaveUK Credit Union, Phoebe Fernandes – Wiltshire & Swindon CU
British Credit Union Historical Society 