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I needed some work doing on my car and didn’t have the money sitting there to pay for it. I shopped around for a loan like anyone would. I wasn’t specifically looking for an ethical lender or a community bank. I just wanted a decent loan at a decent rate.

When I found Wessex Community Bank, if I’m honest, I didn’t really understand the loan at first. It showed what I would pay each month, but then it said I would get money back at the end. I remember thinking, so how does that work then?

So I looked into it a bit more. Basically, part of my monthly payment was paying off the loan and part of it was going into savings for me. It all came out as one payment.

Once I understood it, definitely. I’ve never been particularly good at saving. To be fair, if I had loads of savings I probably wouldn’t have needed the loan in the first place.

The good thing was I didn’t really notice I was doing it. I just made my payment every month and got on with things.

Two years later the loan was paid off and I had about £340 saved.

Seeing my account sitting there in credit was actually a really good feeling. I’d almost forgotten the saving part because to me it had just been my loan payment every month.

It made me think, I could actually have done this before.

No, and that surprised me a bit. Once you’ve struggled to save and then suddenly you’ve actually got some money sitting there that you saved yourself, you get quite protective of it. You don’t immediately think, right, what can I spend that on? We’ll I didn’t.

I’ve left it alone. I’m going on a fishing trip in a couple of months, so some of it will go on that.

That’s probably a trip I wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise. I originally came to Wessex Community Bank because I needed my car fixed. Two years later the car loan is gone and I’ve got savings. I’m pretty happy with that.

Jenny: We were looking for a bit of extra money to finish paying for solar panels. We’d had some help through a government grant, but it didn’t quite cover everything.

We’d already spoken to our bank and, to be honest, we were probably just going to go with them. We’d banked there for years and it was familiar and honestly, easy..

Then a friend mentioned Wessex Community Bank. They said they were a local community bank, a bit different to the big banks, and that they were quite focused on supporting the local area.

We’d never heard of them.

Clive: That was the first thing, really. You think, who are they? Why haven’t I heard of them before?

Jenny: Exactly. So we had a look at the website, mainly out of curiosity.

At first I didn’t really understand the not-for-profit bit. I thought, well, surely a bank has to make money.

But once we read a bit more, it made sense. They do make money, but a lot of it goes back into supporting the community. At first you have to get your head around that.

That was nice, but I wouldn’t say that alone made the decision for us.

Jenny: The ethical side probably did.

We care quite a lot about the environment. We’ve got solar panels, we’ve since had a heat pump fitted, and we try to make sensible choices where we can.

So there was something that just fitted. If we were borrowing money to make our home more environmentally friendly, using a community bank with similar values to us just felt right.

Jenny: A little bit at first but not after we had done a bit of research. We’d used our normal bank for about 35 years, so suddenly choosing a small community bank you’d never heard of did feel slightly strange.

I remember thinking, this all looks perfectly legitimate, everything seems fine, but I just want to speak to somebody. So I rang them.

They were lovely. I remember speaking to Chris. She was really helpful. She explained how it all worked, what the bank was there for and how the loan worked. That was really the point where I thought, yes, this is fine.

Jenny: Yes, years ago now. We haven’t needed another loan since.

But when we joined, I also started putting a little bit away into their Christmas Club.

I remember Christmas clubs from years ago. There used to be one at the local pub where we lived. So when I saw it, I thought, I know what this is.

Jenny: Oh yes. Christmas is much easier when you’ve already got money sitting there waiting for it.

You just put a little away through the year and then suddenly Christmas arrives and you’re not having to find it all at once.

Clive: I’m quite happy with the Christmas Club.

Jenny: He would be. He hasn’t actually saved anything into it.

Clive: No, but it’s a good idea.

Jenny: yeas, especially when it’s paying for the turkey and the booze!

That’s probably the funny thing about it. We originally joined Wessex Community Bank because we needed a loan for solar panels. That loan disappeared years ago, but we never really left.

Now they’re where I save for Christmas.

A friend of mine had an account with them.

I’d never heard of Wessex Community Bank before that, so I went online and had a look, then gave them a call just to find out a bit more.

I’d recently had some inheritance and I was thinking about putting the money into an ISA, so I went back to my friend and asked what she thought about me putting some of it with them.

Funny enough, she didn’t try to convince me. She just said, it depends what you want.

She said she saves with them because she likes what they do locally.

She’s involved with a small volunteer workshop and they’d found it really difficult to get a bank account opened for the group. The bigger banks weren’t much help, but they helped them get one sorted.

She said if all I wanted was the best ISA rate I could find, then I should shop around and get the best rate. But if I wanted some of my money somewhere that was doing something useful locally as well, then they were worth looking at.

Oh, it was. Of course I wanted a decent return on my money.

What I found quite unusual was when I spoke to them, they were very straight with me. They basically said, if what you want is the very best rate you can find and you’re happy moving your money around whenever a better one comes along, then you’ll probably find somewhere else paying more.

I wasn’t expecting them to say that.

Everywhere else I’d spoken to was trying to convince me why I should put my money with them. They were almost saying, if the highest rate is what matters most to you, that’s absolutely fine, but we might not be the right place for all of your savings.

I actually found that quite reassuring.

They explained that the reason people save with them is a bit different. You still get a return on your money, but you also know that having your savings there helps them do more in the local community. It sounded interested. Different.

So I found another ISA paying a better rate and put most of the money there. Then I put a smaller amount into their ethical ISA.

For me, that was the right balance.

Yes, I think it did.

I only live a few miles away from them, and when I looked at the website I could see some of the local groups they’d helped.

And I already knew about my friend’s workshop, so I knew it wasn’t just something they just said. They had actually helped people I knew. That helps a lot.

I liked the idea that I could still look after my own money, but have some of it somewhere that was doing something useful as well.

Yes, about five years now.

I still have savings elsewhere. I’m not going to move everything over just because I like what they do.

But I’m very happy having some of it with them because it feels right.

They give me a bonus on my ISA, but that isn’t really the whole reason I’m there.

Part of what I get back is knowing that some of my money is helping support something local.

For me, that works.