THE DEMAND FOR BURSARIES

The ICULD&E Foundation is one of just two charitable organisations providing bursaries for individuals to attend Development Educator (DE) courses outside their homelands, the other is the Australian Mutuals Foundation, one of its strategic partners.

For those who don't know, DE courses provide a total immersion in credit union history, philosophy, corporate governance and operational activity over an intense 5 or 6 day period, developing new and latent skills in all who attend; inspiring them to become more imbued with practical cooperation, aware of the value of their place in social economy and impact on society.  Click here to read the brief timeline history of DE in the UK.

Development Educators are the "strivers" and "doers" of the credit union movement, the natural leaders who can identify societal needs and deliver solutions.  

Francois KEBE has a dream to launch the first French Speaking Development Educator programme in Louga, north Senegal, West Africa - a former French colony.  He's a local credit union activist living in Louga who, since retiring as an English Teacher, has spent the last few years raising awareness of the benefits of credit unions (locally called “mutuelles”) to his community.  In 2018, Kebe organised a Financial Education Workshop for 100 local English Teachers, assisted by an experienced credit union advocate - Malcolm Ngouala - from the UK, a Development Educator who has graduated both DEUK and Africa DE. 

To further his dream, initially Kebe needs your help to attend the Asian Credit Union Development Programme, held in Bangkok, Thailand.  This course has been chosen as it covers the topics of practical individual advocacy and community mobilisation in new territories where English is not spoken. Graduating as a Development Educator will be invaluable for Kebe, enabling him to take this project forward, setting up a Development Educator course taught in French, enabling those DE graduates to spread the cooperative ethos of credit unions throughout Senegal and further afield and bring economic empowerment to French speaking countries in Africa..

The ICULD&E Foundation is now registered with KindLink, a charity donation platform that connects those who want to help with those in need, providing free services to charities to power their business and social impact.  UK donors can register for Gift Aid and official receipts will be issued to all organisations on request.

The Foundation's purpose is about “credit union leaders of today building those of tomorrow” – please donate whatever you can to help us in spreading the unique credit union difference and bringing its benefits to all.