Name: Debbie Kinghorne

Organisation Name: Citysave Credit Union


Tell us about your organisation

Citysave is a not-for-profit organisation that offers savings and affordable loans to any one who lives or works in Birmingham and Warwickshire. We work with over 50 employers in the City offering a savings scheme for their employees through Payroll Deduction.  We also support our communities with our products and services, along with financial guidance through our Talk Money workshops.


What were your reasons for taking part in the Accelerator Programme?

To gain new skills to support my role as Business Development Officer better, which will help to grow and raise awareness of our Credit Union.  Bid Writing Skills in particular will really benefit me as this is something new to Citysave and we would like to win some future funding to allow us to work more within our communities, supporting those who need us most.

What has been a positive takeaway of the accelerator so far?

Networking with other attendees on the course and sharing ideas along with  the support from my mentor Tony has been invaluable so far. Just having someone I can run things past and get their expert guidance on has made such a difference and is really motivating me to succeed.


What message do you want to share with readers of the BVSC e-bulletin?

I would like for any Birmingham Employers who do not currently offer their employees a employee benefit scheme for savings via payroll deduction to reach out to me to find out more about how better they can support their employees with their financial wellbeing, through the products and services Citysave offer. The scheme is free to set up!

And…..


for any family community hubs to reach out to me, to discuss what products and services Citysave offer that could best support their users.

Get in touch with Debbie:

[email protected] | 0121 616 6200


The Accelerator is a programme of support for people working in organisations in the Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise Sector, looking to develop their Business Development approaches and generate income from competitive bidding processes for both contracts and grants. The Programme is run by BVSC in partnership with Tony Carr of 4FrontPartners.