Making people and communities better off: Our 2025 Social Impact Report
Making people and communities better off: Our 2025 Social Impact Report
We're proud to share our 2025 Social Impact Report, highlighting another year of supporting people across the South and West of England to access fair finance, build savings and feel more in control of their money.
The highlights
In 2025, we:
- Supported 18,635 members
- Lent £10.8 million responsibly
- Helped members save £7.8 million in interest compared to high-cost lenders
- Reached £8.9 million in member savings
Behind every one of these numbers is a person, family or household finding a fairer way to borrow, save and manage their money.
Supporting members through financial pressure
Many of our members continue to feel the impact of rising living costs. In 2025:
- 71% of borrowers had no savings at all
- 56% sometimes struggled to keep up with bills
- 43% said rising costs had negatively affected their finances
For many, access to fair and affordable finance meant avoiding high-cost lenders, staying on top of bills, and managing unexpected costs with confidence.
Helping people build financial resilience
Saving remains one of the most powerful ways to improve financial wellbeing.
In 2025, our members held £8.9 million in savings with GWCU, with many saving regularly to build an emergency fund and prepare for the unexpected.
We're also continuing to see members move from borrowing to saving, helping them build stronger financial foundations for the future.
More than loans and savings
Community finance is about more than products.
In 2025, we:
- Helped 1,034 unhoused families access accommodation
- Supported 116 people through refugee resettlement programmes
- Helped members identify over £67,000 in unclaimed benefits with our better off calculator
- Provided 1,143 loans to people living in some of the region's most deprived communities
Powered by members
Everything we do is made possible by our members.
Every pound saved helps support someone else to access fair and affordable finance. That's what makes credit unions different, people helping people.
As Denis Lindsay, Chair of the Board, says:
"2025 was another year that reminded us what a credit union is for. Across the South West of England, members came to us under real financial pressure and left with affordable credit, a savings habit, or simply the reassurance that someone was in their corner."
We're incredibly proud of what we've achieved this year and grateful to every member, saver, borrower, employer partner and community partner who has helped make it possible.
Together, we're making people and communities better off.
Read the full 2025 Social Impact Report below.