Judging Panel - Filene Awards

The Trustees of the Charity are delighted to announce the Judges for the Awards this year.  All are entirely independent of any credit union, associational body or league but fully conversant with the social economy and credit unions.

 In isolation of each other, the Judges will score each credit union entry in accordance with the details set out on the "Helpline and Judging Process" page, their scores then being added together to produce an aggregate score per category.

In 2018, because of a gratifying increase in the number of entries, the Judging Panel has been enlarged -  the Filene "Leadership" and "Enterprise" entries are being judged by Adrian Oldman, Nigel Fawcett and Steve Johnson, while the "Community" section is being judged by Becky Hoyle and Ros Lucas.

Their biographies follow:-

Adrian Oldman, MCIPR, DipCAM(PR), FRSA

Adrian Oldman has spent almost ten years in financial services, most recently as Head of Marketing & Communications for Fair for You - an ethical alternative to high cost rent-to-own store or money lenders. 

Adrian joined his first credit union when living in Ireland in 1997, and he’s been a strong supporter of the movement ever since. He has previously been a consultant advising a number of credit unions, and helped establish the National Credit Union Awards whilst at Unity Trust Bank.

Nigel Fawcett, LLB, DMS, MBA

Nigel Fawcett is currently a Non-Executive Director, Vice Chairman of CS Healthcare, Chairman of its Audit, Regulatory and Compliance Committee and member of the Remuneration and Nominations Committee; previously Assistant Registrar of the Registry of Friendly Societies and latterly Head of Mutuals Section and Consultant to HM Treasury; he was responsible for developing legislative reforms for the Mutual Sector, including credit unions, liaising with the FSA and Government Departments.

Steve Johnson, FRSA 

Steve Johnson is the Chief Executive of Advice UK, the country’s largest network of independent advice services, many of which provide debt and money advice and have close working links with credit unions. He is also currently a Trustee or Non-Executive Director of several charities and social enterprise organisations including the Access to Justice Foundation; LawWorks (the Solicitors Pro Bono Group), Street UK, the School for Social Entrepreneurs and Southern Housing Group.  

Ros Lucas

Ros has over 30 years’ experience in the community sector as a chief officer, consultant, facilitator and adviser.  She has run legal and community advice services, including debt counselling services.  She has developed social enterprises and is a fellow of the School of Social Entrepreneurs .   More recently Ros has become an accredited mediator dealing with workplace, civil and commercial disputes, and a leadership and development facilitator.  She is a trustee of Greenwich Citizens Advice Bureau and Refugee Action.

Becky Wordsworth Hoyle

A marketing and communications consultant, Becky brings to the table almost twenty years’ experience of alternative and ethical finance, having sat on the Advisory Board and local lending panels for Fredericks Foundation CDFI, and acted as Grants Manager for Fair for You, helping change the financial landscape for households struggling with high cost credit.

While living in Ireland, she enjoyed using credit unions and ‘old style’ banking (dropping off cash in carrier bags, first name terms with the bank manager), but today her writing is mainly for blockchain and cryptocurrency clients trying to improve global finance through technology and transparency.