A savings club set up by the Augustinian community in Drogheda is to be wound up at the end of the year.The Augustinian Penny Bank was established in 1975, and members of the public could deposit funds on a regular basis throughout the year and receive them back in the run-up to Christmas.
It has been decided to close it down on a number of grounds, including security risks, cost effectiveness, adherence to charity law, and overall financial supervision and governance, spokesman Fr Iggy O'Donovan has announced.
“Unfortunately the Penny Bank has become a victim of its own success and whilst the scheme has grown, the systems and demands for managing such a large operation have struggled to keep pace,” he explained.
The Penny Bank attracted thousands of members in the past 37 years and has been staffed largely by volunteers who have promoted it all that time.
Despite a shaky start – just €53 was collected in the first week - the Penny Bank took off and the annual payout day in November, when as many as 10,000 people in the area collected their penny bank cheques, was known to bring a welcome boost for retailers in the town and hinterland.
Fr O'Donovan said it had been a, “very difficult and painful decision,” which was, “inevitable,” but, “made with great reluctance and sadness.”
“It could simply not have achieved the huge success it did were it not for the commitment and efforts of the five staff, the original volunteers, the thousands of savers and the hundreds of promoters,” he said.
“The latter group in particular has been key to the Penny Bank's achievements, collecting money in various organisations around the town.”
“In its lifetime, it became part of the life of Drogheda helping thousands save for that special occasion or rainy day,” said Fr O’Donovan.
“Its success was the flowering of the vision of its founders which, over the years, was nourished by the steady commitment and dedication of promoters and volunteers, not forgetting the loyalty of its savers.”
But as it continued to grow year after year, “the systems and demands for managing such an operation struggled to keep pace, leaving us to face a number of serious constraints on its further development,” he explained.
He paid tribute to “all those who have contributed to the positive outcome of the Penny Bank during its lifetime. In the first instance, we thank the members of that foundational group of enthusiastic friends and next we thank the successive generations of promoters and volunteers without whose steady commitment the Penny Bank could never have survived, still less prosper.”
The Augustinians benefited from the interest that accrued on deposits and meant the order, which did not have a parish or weekly collection, rarely needed to ask for money from the community.
The interest from savers’ deposits even paid for a substantial share of the cost of reroofing the church some years ago.
The Penny Bank will continue to operate until final payout in mid-November 2012.