Mayfield Community Bank Project passes $100K mark

Mayfield Community Bank steering committee just celebrated its first milestone, reaching $100,000 in pledges in just eight weeks of campaigning.

They're working hard to start the Hunter region’s first Community Bank.

 

The model is based on the community owning its own branch as a local business, with Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited (BABL) providing a comprehensive banking service on a franchise basis. 

 

The committee has promoted the idea locally, gathering pledges of support.

Pledges are non-binding. They’re used to gauge if people will invest enough in shares to start the business. When pledges reach the target region of $800,000 a feasibility study takes place. If its positive, a public company is formed. The company issues a Prospectus and raises local capital. It then secures premises, recruits staff and opens for business. 

 

The Community Bank retains half of the profits. After costs, a minimum of 80% of remaining profit is given to local community organisations, and the remainder can be returned to shareholders. 

 

Initial pledges range from a minimum of $500 up to a maximum of around $50,000. After a mere eight weeks of campaigning, pledges have already passed the $100,000 mark. It shows many people in Mayfield are excited by the possibilities the concept offers. So are Newcastle City  Councilors.

 

At a recent public voice hearing, Councilors were impressed to hear that in East Gosford, a community of 3,500 people, the bank gave a quarter of a million dollars to local organizations.  Furthermore, applications were not snagged by bureaucracy, but within one or two months of application.

 

“Imagine if we had such a bank in Mayfield, what we could do” said Chairperson Bronwyn Grieves. “We could improve Mayfield Pool, adding features to make it more fun and increase patronage with little cost to council”.

 

“It’s the sort of bank we need. It builds community spirit and networks as people do their banking. It helps to create the sort of vibrant community that the Hunter will need to adapt to a challenging future”

 

Pledge forms can be obtained and lodged at the Mayfield Pool Shop, John Karmas Real Estate and Jon Dickson in Maitland Road Mayfield. For more information, ring Steering Committee members Annie Rook 49683648 or Niko Leka 0406296141.  

Dip into your own bank

The Mayfield Swimming Pool opened recently with a celebration of its newly installed solar heating. The People's Chorus sang, there was music from a wonderful singer/guitarist, MC'ed by Gionni di Gravio, and perfect swimming temperature.

Mayfield Community Bank steering committee with mentor Bob Rudd and his wife spent the day explaining the benefits of community banking. Bob came along prepared to cool us off with a marque from Kincumber branch.

If you haven't done so already, now's the time to fill in a pledge form- download one here- and drop it into the box at Kathie Heyman's pool shop or John Karmas' real estate agency.

Mayfield Community Bank project is on the move.

Saturday 12th September.

Photo: Greg Hall.

The fragrance of frying onions and sizzling sausages transformed a quiet Mayfield street corner into a minifestival. Neighbours- some of who had never met each other- came out to have lunch and talk about their ideas of what a community bank could do for Mayfield. 

The Mayfield Community bank steering committee is going to host more BBQs, as well as street stalls and small group presentations over the next few months to explain how the proposed bank will benefit people in Mayfield.

Their goal is to gather as many expressions of interest in the project as quickly as possible. Once these pledges expressions total $800,000 then the project can move one to its next stage. This will be an independent feasibility study. If the study is encouraging, a prospectus can be issued- and from there, opening the doors is not far off.

But we have to get to that level of pledges first. So, make sure you’ve lodged a pledge, and ask your family and friends to. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions, or if you’d like us to come and do a presentation to your group. 

Niko Leka, Steering Committee

Mayfield Community Bank neighbourhood BBQ

Are you keen to see a Community Bank started in Mayfield? Just imagine, its possible to have it up and running by this time next year!

Now is the time to help get it started, by lodging your pledge (a non-binding expression of interest).  We need to get to $800K in pledges. We then comission a feasiblity study. If its positive, we issue a prospectus .... and then setup. We're already on our way, in just a few weeks we're already near $100K in pledges.

So this weekend, why not join your fellow residents for a BBQ and find out more. There’s no pressure, no obligation, the BBQ is free- what can you lose?

Hope to see you this Saturday 12th Sept, 11am- 1pm, cnr Gavey and Fitzroy St. Mayfield.

Niko Leka,

Mayfield Community Bank Steering Committee.

Mayfield Community Bank Project is Rolling!

Since our packed meeting to launch our Pledge Campaign many people are asking for Pledge forms...

so either contact our Steering Committee, or you can download an Information Form and a Pledge Form by clicking these links. 

Pledge forms can be returned to:
Aussie Pool Lovers                                       -OR-                  Realty Partners                      
160 Maitland Road, Mayfield                                                 262 Maitland Road, Mayfield
 
 
More news on our progress soon!

& ps Don't forget to spread the word amongst your friends and neighbours.

Community Bank® public meeting a success

More than 50 people attended our meeting on Tuesday 28 July.

Mayfield Community Bank® Steering Committee Chairman Kathie Heyman said the public meeting was a huge success. 

“This is a campaign which will benefit the entire community, not just with a traditional, over the counter banking service but with profits being retained for use within our town,” Kathie said.

“I urge anyone with an interest in the future of Mayfield to ask questions about this campaign and to indicate their support via a pledge form.”

Pledge forms and further information regarding the campaign is available from Aussie Pool Lovers or Realty Partners both on Maitland Road, and members of the local steering committee. 

East Gosford & Districts Community Bank® Chairman Bob Rudd also attended the information session. Mr Rudd said that
“Over 230 communities across Australia have gone through the process and have benefited enormously, as will Mayfield.
“East Gosford in particular has experienced fantastic support during the past nine years and has experienced business growth of $148.9 million, with more than 6,700 customers enjoying the personal banking services offered by local staff.

Last financial year the company gave more than $61,000 back to local community groups and projects, with a further $66,000 distributed this financial year".

The Mayfield Community Bank® Steering committee is aiming to raise around $800,000 in pledges of support from local residents over the next three months.

Mayfield Community Bank Pledge Launch

The Mayfield Community Bank initiative will be holding a pledge launch on July 28th upstairs at the Stag and Hunter 5:30 pm.

People who are interested in supporting a bank that will spend 50% of its profits in Mayfield on local community projects are invited to attend. Pledges at this stage are indicative of support and are not binding.

Click here to download and read a pledge form, and here to read an accompanying information sheet

You can download this invitation from here.

See you on the night!

Niko Leka, Steering Committee.

Our first stall

 We held our first stall at the opening of the Villiers St Community Gardens opening.

About 200 people came, despite the rain & mud. The gardens looked great, everything looking very productive. 

A lot of people were interested, and took away our first batch of pledge forms. These can be droppedoff at:

Aussie Pool Lovers, 160 Maitland Rd Mayfield or

Realty Partners, 262 Maitland Rd, Mayfield.

Looking forward to more stalls and meeting more people soon!

Community benefits set to flow in Mayfield

Mayfield, Monday 4 May 2009: Plans for a Mayfield Community Bank® campaign launch are now well underway and residents of the local area can look forward to progressing the plan for a community-owned bank branch.

The newly-formed Mayfield Community Bank® Steering Committee will participate in a thorough workshop on 20 May with Bendigo Bank managers to learn the details of running a Community Bank® campaign.

Now, the Steering Committee is planning an awareness and pledge campaign, which will gauge the level of support within the community for the establishment of a community-owned branch of Bendigo Bank. A typical pledge campaign will be approximately 3 months in duration before moving to the other stages of the campaign; feasibility study, prospectus, branch launch. 

“Our committee, made up of local residents and business people, will attended the information workshop to ensure we are fully informed on the Community Bank® concept prior to launching our campaign,” Steering Committee spokesperson Niko Leka said.

Bendigo Bank has successfully partnered more than 230 communities across Australia to open Community Bank® branches.

Niko said a Community Bank® branch for Mayfield would bring so many benefits.

“The model is simple - a Community Bank® branch will be owned by the wider community, and a significant percentage of profit will be retained in the local community and contributed to local projects, returned to local shareholders as dividends and to be spent on things like rent, cleaning and maintenance,” Niko said.

“It will be a massive boost for our economy and will also provide local people with a full range of personal and business banking products and the highest level of customer service including Saturday mornings,” he said.

Across Australia, the Community Bank® network has:
- Returned more than $28.1 million to local communities and projects
- Paid $12 million in dividends to more than 50,000 local shareholders
- Spent almost $40 million in their local communities on salaries, rent, cleaning and other operating costs.

For example, Harbord Community Bank® branch returned $117,439 to the local community in the 2007/08 financial year alone including $54,450 to assist in completion of the Junior Rugby League Football Club house and dressing rooms. Also provided $10,000 to the Harbord Disabled Bowling Club.

“Everyone I’ve spoken to in Mayfield is excited about this concept of banking," Niko said.  

During the Mayfield pledge campaign, the committee will call for people interested in becoming a shareholder in a local community company to make an indicative pledge of support.

“We aim to have at least 250 local people pledge their support. This is a non-binding pledge and no money changes hands at this early stage,” Niko said.

For more information on the Mayfield Community Bank® Campaign or to join the steering committee please call Niko Leka on 0406 296 141.

Poster for discussion

Please send your comments on this to Niko

niko@idl.com.au

You can download a PDF of this image by clicking here

regards

Niko

Have a read of this

Just a quick update. click this link to read the Richmond Community Banks's newsletter... the sorts of community distributions they're making is what we could look forward to

Niko.

Public Meeting Sunday March 22nd 4pm

You are invited to attend the inaugural

Public Meeting

to establish Mayfeld’s Community Bank® Branch.

 Sunday 22 March 2009,   4.00pm  

 St Columbans Church Hall, 39 Church Street, Mayfeld 

Enquiries Anne Rooke-Frizell 4968 3648  
  Niko Leka 0406 296 141

Click here to download a good quality copy of this poster to distribute as widely as you can! The more people there are, the sooner we get local banking up & running....

Mayfield meeting coming up soon.

We're going ahead with our plans for a community meeting on Sunday 22nd March at 4pm at the St Columban's Hall in Church St.

Posters & flyers will be out shortly.

Meantime, download an announcement from the Bendigo Bank regarding its very healthy financial status.

Push for new community bank

MICHAEL BLAXLAND
The Post newspaper, January 28, 2009.

A NEWCASTLE community is preparing to take banking to the people.

Initial meetings have been held to start a community bank in Mayfield, under the auspices of the Bendigo Bank.

The financial institution has a “community bank” model which allows towns or suburbs to control and staff their own branch and profits are returned to the local community.

Mayfield committee member Niko Leka said a meeting was held last week and a further public gathering would be held at the end of March.

“We need up to 18 people for a steering committee, and then the project can really start to get up and running,” he said.

Bendigo Bank group managing director Rob Hunter said the community bank movement started in 1998 when Bendigo Bank partnered with the Victorian communities, Rupanyup and Minyip, to pilot a return to banking services in their towns.

“It succeeded to the point where $100,000 per year is now made available for local community projects in the area,” he said.

“Community bank branches deliver employment opportunities for local people, keep local capital in the community, are a local investment option for shareholders and provide a source of revenue for important community projects determined by the local community.

Mayfield Mainstreet co-ordinator Kathie Heyman said there was great enthusiasm in the suburb for the initiative.

“Anything that brings business and community support is welcome,” she said.

“Mayfield Mainstreet can see the initiative as a way of providing funds for community development, services and improvements.

“Bendigo community banks have been established on the Central Coast with great success and this would be a coup for Mayfield to have the first one in the Newcastle region.

“Our shop owners get many customers who use Bendigo through other branches and Mayfield would become the regional centre for the bank.”

A feasibility study is expected to be conducted in coming months and, if positive, the next step will be the issuing of shares in the local branch which community members can buy.

Those local shareholders will help determine where profits will be allocated.

Mayfield to start its own Bendigo Bank branch

Ok here's where I'll put material for the public- pics, downloads etc.