EDINBURGH, Scotland–Actor Michael Sheen, known for his roles in Frost/Nixon and the Showtime series Masters of Sex, was on hand here to help open a credit union that operates as Castle Community Bank.
Sheen has been an advocate of credit unions as a means of keeping people from borrowing from payday lenders and for getting out of debt. The Welsh-born Sheen recently launched the End High-Cost Credit Alliance, which he founded as part of his work against high-cost lenders.
Castle Community Bank operates under the umbrella of My Community Bank, which grew out of Brent Shrine Credit Union which was first formed in 1979 to serve people living or working in the London Borough of Brent.
“We changed our name to My Community Bank and extended our common bond nationally to encompass the British South Asian diaspora,” the institution says on its website. “Since then our common bond has extended a number of times to include members and supporters of a very wide range of organizations and associations across the U.K. My Community Bank is one of the three credit unions which form the My Community Bank network covering England, Scotland and Wales.”
"Every day we provide loans to ordinary people and families across Edinburgh and Lothians enabling them to do the things they want in life - create or improve their family homes, buy a car or to help prepare for and manage life events, like having a baby or planning their wedding,” said Gordon Buchanan, general manager of Castle Community Bank. “We are constantly working to raise our profile and get that message out to more and more people, who may otherwise find themselves falling into a cycle of problem debt by taking out hire purchase agreements or payday loans at punitive rates of interest which they can't really afford. It's our very real hope that having Michael cutting the ribbon on our new branch will get our name in front of an awful lot more people who may be interested in finding out more about us and maybe using our services."