A Northumberland community will regain its local banking services one year after its last bank branch closed
Newcastle Building Society and the Glendale Gateway Trust have come together to open a new community branch in Wooler before the end of the year.
The village has been without banking services since 2018, when its last local branch closed.
The new community branch will be based in the Cheviot Community Centre community hub, alongside the town’s tourist information services, library, and community meeting spaces.
Newcastle Building Society entered the partnership as part of its plans to improve how it delivers services to communities in the North East, Cumbria and North Yorkshire. The company is aiming to grow its branch network at a time when many of its competitors are closing branches and moving out of rural areas.
The Wooler branch is the second opening to be announced by the building society this year, after it revealed it was opening a community branch for Hawes, in North Yorkshire, earlier this week.
Andrew Haigh, CEO of Newcastle Building Society, said: “We are convinced that the high street has an important role to play at the heart of our communities and have been investing significantly in improving our existing branch network and in thinking creatively around how we can be physically present in communities that are struggling to access the financial services they need.
“Working closely with the Glendale Gateway Trust to deliver face to face financial services and financial advice for the benefit of Wooler is part of our wider strategy that puts our emphasis on growing a bright and sustainable future hand in hand with local people.
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“Alongside that we’ve been focusing on other ways we can add real value to local communities, such as our growing Dementia Friends awareness programme, which is something we are incredibly proud of.”
The Glendale Gateway Trust is a community development organisation designed to support one of the most sparsely areas of the country. The Trust covers 250 miles of rural Northumberland, which only has a population of 6,000.
The organisation has been working to make improvements in the town, such as buying neglected buildings and turning them into affordable homes. It also promotes rural business development and provides office pods for start-up firms.
Patrick Sheard, chair of Glendale Gateway Trust said: “The Trust is committed to making life better for the people of Glendale.
“The current trend to move provision of services to larger, more central towns can leave rural populations such as ours feeling isolated and neglected. When the last bank closed in Wooler, residents were faced with a round trip of 40 miles to access banking services.
“We are delighted that our proposed partnership with Newcastle Building Society will bring financial services provision back within walking distance of the majority of residents.
“This move reinforces the significance of the Cheviot Centre as a community hub at the centre of life in Glendale and is a huge vote of confidence in the economic well-being of our town.”