Work so far!

In 2022, we decided to embark on a journey to find out more about sustainability, the effects that climate change can have on our local community and what actions we can take that will have a positive impact in this regard. As an organisation that has been at the heart of the local community for over 60 years, we consider it to be of vital importance to, not just promote the benefits of sustainability and the need for a positive effect on our environment, but to demonstrate this by our own actions. We have done this in a number of ways – we have created a peaceful and relaxing staff space, which doubles as a great environmentally friendly garden, full of pollinator-friendly flowers, herbs and fruit trees; we have switched to a water purifying system, which provides cool water for drinking and boiling water for tea/coffee and supplied our staff with reusable drinking bottles. Given our business and the legal requirements for documents to be provided, it is not possible to go completely paperless but we are significantly reducing the amount of paper being used. Staff are encouraged to ‘think before you print’; members are encouraged to avail of increased digital facilities, such as e-signatures for loan collections; downloading statements to our app, rather than printing. We have also supported many groups within our community as they begin their own sustainability journey. We recently collaborated with Self Help Africa and Ré Scoil Iosagain Daingean Rd Tullamore where 300 trees and native hedging were planted. For each tree planted here in Tullamore, 10 were planted in Africa. Planting trees in Tullamore is great for the environment but planting trees in Africa contributes to the economy, provides much needed shelter, purifies water and provides food & support for local wildlife. Locally, we have supported several community groups through our Community Support Fund – Killoughey Community Centre received funding to install energy-efficient heaters while Killurin Community Alert group are working towards installing solar powered lights around their walking track. Our Pride in our Place & our School garden competition are currently running and have an environmental awareness section. We are committed to offering our members a range of products & services that will help make their own sustainable journeys more achievable – our Pro-Energy loans are designed to help members upgrade the efficiency of their homes; our new Green Car loan has a reduced rate for the purchase of hybrid and electric cars; our Sustainable Services allow members to access their account on-line, transact, apply for and collect loans - without having to travel to our offices!