The Mansfield branch of Nottingham Credit Union celebrated its second birthday by raising more than £100 for its chosen charity, Mansfield Arthritis Support Group.

The credit union, based at 3 Clumber Street, marked the milestone with a tombola and cupcakes to fundraise.

Branch manager Marie Haywood said: “We moved into this office so that we could be more visible and closer to people in the local community.

“We have 650 members in the Mansfield area who we serve with affordable, ethical, financial products and to date we have lent out over £525,000 to the local community in loans.

“We place a strong importance on financial education and offer our members a one-to-one based service.

“Our staff take the time to sit with members and go through a budget planner, income and expenditure and look for areas where we might be able to save money for members — for example, we just helped one lady save half the cost of her water bill.

“We look to try to improve everyone’s financial situations as a whole.

“Christmas is coming and we would advise people in the local community not to be lured into deals with higher-cost and payday lenders to help fund the festive season. Come in and see us to find out if we can help.

“Every person who takes a loan from the credit union at the moment also pays into a savings account so they can save while they borrow. We already have people who are saving for Christmas 2018 so they won’t need to borrow again next year.”

The Mansfield branch of Nottingham Credit Union also gives talks and visits the community to help with financial education.

The Mansfield branch is open Tuesday to Friday, from 9.30am to 2.30pm. For more information, go to 3 Clumber Street, Mansfield, find the branch on Facebook @NottinghamCU, call 0115 828 3121 or email [email protected]