What went down at #ECUCelebrates35…🎉
If you’re following any of our social media channels, then you’ll know that it’s been a big month for all of us at ECU! August 9th marked the end of our 35th year as a credit union, and in true ECU fashion, we didn’t cut any corners when it came to celebrating the occasion.Â
In the lead-up to the big day we shared some snippets of our heritage starting with a video made for our 30th, followed up by daily trivia questions to test who’d been paying attention. We’ve also thanked you all—and would like to do so again—for the overwhelming amount of votes and nominations you sent in for our community awards. More than 1,000 members contributed to the selection, highlighting the strength of our community as well as just how many heroic groups and individuals there are in Liverpool!Â
And onto the anniversary itself. We wish we could have had all of our brilliant members come along, but the Racquet Club’s capacity couldn’t quite handle 24,000 people, so we had to limit invitations to some of our partner organisations, sponsors, staff, and, of course, community champions.
The night began with the usual prosecco and canapés, served whilst guests arrived and either reunited or made introductions. Those of us with a love for the limelight got the opportunity to have their picture taken on our very own red carpet before everyone was called upstairs to be seated.
Chairman Tony Denny took to the stage first for some housekeeping, extending a welcome to the 100 guests—some of whom had come all the way from Ireland! Sponsors and partners included ABM Computers LTD, CMutual, Constituent Associates, Fern Software, Heritage Credit Union, Opus 4, SB and P, and Zync Digital. He then made an exciting announcement which you may now have heard about: we’ve written a book! “WHAT A DIFFERENCE It Makes” is a chronicle of the people and stories that have shaped ECU. Unfortunately it is not available to buy, but there’ll be copies in each of our branches, and all members are very welcome to come in for a read.
Next was local author and the man responsible for putting our story into words, Mark Campbell, who gave us a brief insight into what it was like to write “WHAT A DIFFERENCE It Makes.” Mark also reflected on some of the invaluable connections we’ve made over the years, such as our 25-year-long collaboration with insurance providers CMutual.
To make sure everyone was fuelled up for the evening, the introductions were followed by a fantastic three-course meal featuring goat’s cheese, roast chicken, and brownies,
amongst other options. It was then time for what was perhaps the most important part—our Community Champion awards!
Full details of each winner and a summary of exactly why they’re such heroes have been shared on our Facebook and Twitter feeds over the past week, and we couldn’t be prouder of the fact that Liverpool is so full of people who dedicate their time to improving the city we live in. Narrowing it down to just four was a real challenge, and a huge thank you goes out to every single one of the nominees.
The awards kicked off with Rhiann Canavan of The Gate in Page Moss, winning Community Champion for the selfless work she does in the local community. Then we congratulated Alfie Fitzsimmons as the Best Young Fundraiser—how many 16-year-olds can you think of who’ve set up a non-profit like Alfie’s Squad? The Best Charity was Liverpool Homeless Football Club and their inspiring manager John Finnigan, and last but certainly not least, Sefton Baby Baskets took their prize for the Best Social Impact Organisation. Each champion has been awarded £5,000 to go towards the vital work they do, with The Gate receiving a further £5,000 thanks to an incredibly generous sponsorship from our Irish friends at Heritage Credit Union.
Now that we’d been fed and the winners announced, it was time to let our hair down a little! Singer Motown Mike provided an eclectic musical mix whilst guests had the opportunity to get to know one another and enjoy the evening. In the words of our CEO Karen Bennett, “These connections are what our industry is all about.”, and the memories shared will strengthen our community for decades to come. Here’s to 35 years of ECU!
