THE amount of 'family loans' issued by a community bank to help people pay for school uniforms has more than doubled in one year.

Acorn Community Bank has seen a "huge rise" in the number of its members turning to loans to pay for school essentials.

The business hands out loans to those unable to get credit elsewhere to prevent them from going to payday loan companies or loan sharks.

Members open savings accounts and, provided they meet the loan criteria, can take out loans which are repaid monthly.

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In July 2022 Acorn awarded 188 family loans but this July the bank issued 384 family loans and loan top-ups, mainly for school uniforms, totalling £129,000.

Salisbury Journal: Families are struggling to pay for school uniform.Families are struggling to pay for school uniform. (Image: Getty)Chief executive Clive Henly said: “Over the past year, we have seen the number of people using our Family Loans more than double, a lot of this increase is down to people recommending us to their families and friends.

“Many of the people coming to us for a loan have young families, and a small loan can help them buy necessary things for their homes like fridges, washing machines and furnishings.

"As the summer holidays approached, we saw several of our members returning to us for a top-up to their loan to help them manage the cost of school uniforms for the new term."

Salisbury Journal: Clive Henly has seen a huge demand for family loans.Clive Henly has seen a huge demand for family loans. (Image: Acorn Community Bank)The bank lends more than £1 million every year and has more than 8,000 members in Wiltshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.

It rebranded as Acorn in April after a merger between Wiltshire and Swindon Credit Union, Clivey Credit Union and Swan Community Bank.

Since then its membership has risen steadily, with 80 new applications in July alone. Of these, 55 joined to borrow for the first time, while the others joined to save. 

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This month the bank has launched a new Acorn Saver account to encourage more people to save. Members have to save either £4 or £8 a month for three months to have the total savings matched.

Mr Henly said: "We hope this savings account encourages more people to put a little money away regularly because we always urge our members to save a little as they repay their loan, so as to build up a pot of savings for when they really need them.”

For more details email office@acorncb.co.uk or visit acorncommunitybank.co.uk.