Pictured above: Banking on savers - (from left) Councillor Terry Thomas, the Mayor of Lichfield, helps Mandy Skidmore, activity support worker at Beacon Park village, open an account with Fusion Credit Union watched by Sue Atkins, of Homezone Living, and Pete Selwyn, president of Fusion.

Residents of a Staffordshire retirement village are banking on the success of a new venture which is helping them save for a rainy day.

The Mayor of Lichfield, Councillor Terry Thomas, unveiled a new collection point for Fusion Credit Union at Beacon Park Village, a top-quality retirement scheme run by social landlord HomeZone Living, part of the Midlands based Bromford Group, in partnership with Extra Care and Lichfield District Council.

The collection point is one of the many positive outcomes of the successful partnership between Homezone and Fusion, a financial co-op whose members support each other through saving and borrowing together.

Fusion-trained Beacon residents have volunteered to run the new facility at the Lower Sandford Street retirement village by collecting deposits and carrying out other activities, with admin and support from the credit union's main office.

The volunteers started putting their training into practice when the mayor was welcomed by Sue Atkins, Homezone services manager at Beacon Park, and Fusion president Pete Selwyn.

Sue said: "The new collection point has been enthusiastically welcomed by the customers who live here and eight people immediately opened accounts. Unlike other collection points, access to this one will be restricted to residents and their families, Friends of the Village and residents of nearby St Andrew's House, Sandford Gate and the Pegasus development. Residents from all the schemes can now come along to the village and enjoy a coffee and chat on collection days."

Pete Selwyn said: "We are delighted that the mayor officially opened our new collection point. Our aims are to encourage members to save and to provide access to loans at reasonable rates of interest. In particular, we aim to discourage the use of high-cost doorstep lenders, payday loan companies and unregulated loan sharks."

HomeZone Living is committed to the provision of affordable housing and support services, serving the communities in and around Lichfield District and surrounding boroughs. Its key role is to develop and manage rented, leasehold and shared ownership homes for customers. It is dedicated to achieving high levels of customer satisfaction through continuous service improvement and by engaging with customers to understand their needs.

Established following stock transfer in 1997 and gaining charitable status in April 2006, HomeZone Living is the largest Registered Social Landlord in the district, managing around 4,500 homes, shops and garages. In March 2007, HomeZone Living became a member of Bromford Group.