We’re delighted to announce that BDCU recently won not one, but TWO prestigious awards!

First, our Digital Marketing Apprentice, Janka, was named West Yorkshire Apprentice of the Year 2025 at the West Yorkshire Apprenticeship Awards.

A former Oasis Academy Lister Park student, at BDCU Janka leads campaigns to promote financial education and community empowerment, and to advocate for financial education and digital access. Her work has helped us grow our membership to more than 11,000 people, with savings totalling £6.5 million and community loans reaching £4.3 million.

Not long after, BDCU was crowned Lender of the Year at the Yorkshire Financial Awards 2025!

Recognising our outstanding commitment to ethical lending, community support and financial innovation, the judges also highlighted the record £2.8 million we made available to members in new lending, our innovative products (like our £200 microloan for those with poor credit) and our consistently high member satisfaction ratings.

Katie Hurrell, CEO of BDCU, said: “We’re thrilled for Janka and incredibly proud of her and the hard work she puts into everything she does. As well as enabling members of the communities we serve to become more financially resilient by helping them save and borrow affordably and ethically, Janka also does a lot of work with our community projects, allowing us to create stronger bonds with the local population.

“To then follow up Janka’s win with the Lender of The Year award was absolutely fantastic. Our work is about building financial resilience in Bradford and giving people a genuine alternative to high-cost lenders and loan sharks, so receiving recognition for our efforts to become a trusted local lender and savings provider is extremely rewarding.”