Hi, Old Tawnyowl here from Blackpool.

Starting tomorrow i intend to start to organise a protest against legal loan sharks targeting our communities.

I am first of all going to get in touch with my local credit union and local mps to hopefully get some support.And my friends and hopefully their friends to support me.

I would like perhaps for any of you just to say you support me in this protest which hopefully will gather momentum.

It is a bit nervewracking for someone who has not done this before.

Writing is one thing but protesting is new to me.

I believe it is your right to do this.If you feel strongly about something.

I am going to use this info to get things started.

http://www.workingforwalthamstow.org.uk/download-sharkstoppers-2013-local-campaign-pack/

I will update each thing i do,and reaction or support as it hopefully will come in.

Then a date will be set,on hopefully the busiest day i can find.Or advised on.

When you hear of things like this happening in towns and cities all over the UK what else can you do--

Mike Barry, once a debt adviser with Citizens Advice, and now operations director of the town's credit union, is dismayed – both by Blackpool's worsening poverty and by the rise of the corporate moneylenders.

"Fifty per cent of their revenue comes from people who can't afford to pay it back," he says. "One of our customers borrowed £100 one week and was meant to pay back £130 the next. It kept going up, and by the time he came to us he owed £3,500." The credit union – a non-profit-making financial co-operative – has repaid the debt and spread it over two years so he can budget to pay it all off.

Payday lenders.-The newest form of loansharks.

The product forms a trap,clever because it does not ensnare every consumer and because the result is achieved without fraud or violence.Payday lending is the shrewdest form of loan sharking yet devised.

And make no mistake the legal loan sharks are predators, targeting your community.

Trying to organise a protest may be harder than i thought.Hot work.

I have only managed to email a local MP Gordon Marsden--

http://gordonmarsden.co.uk/index.php?rt=index.html.var

Just trying to make a appointment at one of his surgeries.

And the head of the local credit union.Operations director Mike Barry http://www.bfwcu.co.uk/

It is the putting together of the email that is not boring and gets to the point.Long time since school.

Learning curve.

21 23pm Wednesday update.

I received a phone call this afternoon while on my usual afternoon patrol on the prom.

In a daydream thinking away and frustrated with things.

Waves were crashing on the shoreline,dolphins leaping,you get the picture.

It was from Gordon Marsdens local surgery premises.

I spoke to a very friendly lady.One of his helpers.

We spoke at some length about the problems of payday loans and their targeting of communities.

The picture i am getting and i suppose many think is that it is becoming a serious national problem.

Locally in many towns and cities the situation is the same.

Protesting is ok and yes do it if you feel that way inclined.

But the only way for change to come is maybe from the government.

Which many know will not come from this one any day soon.

They seem to turn their heads and look the other way,blocking all real attempts for action.

The Competition Commission which will become when links up with the OFT the CMA on April the 1st 2014,what a day to merge.Is to investigate.Which may take 18 months plus.

Back to the FCA which has power,again in April 2014 to bang a few payday lending practises into touch.

Will they.

So at the moment it is up to the OFT to sort them out.

And Paul Blomfield mp for Sheffield Bill has final chance on Friday the 13th September,What a day.The omens do not seem good.At the moment.

I will update more if things change.

Gordon Marsden MP for Blackpool South is this Friday going to hold a protest against legal loan sharks and loan sharks by handing out petitions and leaflets.

In St Johns Square,

A Street Stall will be there.

Round the corner from the money shops lair.

He has been worried about these kind of problems facing communities for over 11 years.

Gordon Marsden has been a local MP for many years.

Hard enough for me to concentrate and focus on one subject.Here are some of his.

http://www.blackpool4me.com/NR/rdonlyres/ACC73B6F-D507-470D-A7D3-D6B598816CEA/0/GordonMarsdenReportBackWinter09.pdf

When i received a phone call from his surgery(hereafter now called headquarters) so much better than surgery.The only surgery i want to see is removal of all predators targeting communities and people both here and internationally.I will be there from 10-30 am as many will be i hope.

A MP who has decided to try to do something about the problem facing many communities and people in Britain today.

What is your MP doing about this.Email them and ask them.

Why not,it could be one of your family caught on the debt cycle soon.

Every attempt to act over the last few years has been blocked by the present govt.

Some opposition MPs may feel this is wrong and want to vote for action.

But many soon get whipped into submission.

Its policy,behave yourself.Come into line old boy.

There can be no doubt anymore.They are the legal loan sharks chums.

They get massive donations from the legal loan sharks-and offers of mates rates if needed.

I have followed them now for over 3 years the govt and the legal loan sharks here and internationally.

I have listened to MPs wasting time and blocking bills when others have tried to act.

History lessons going back to the beginning of time instead of action.Wasting time so Bills are blocked.

I have listened while the same excuse comes up time after time.

1-- Some MPs and others suggest or try to scare many into believing that regulating capping,whatever will drive people into the hands of loan sharks.

Those with the gold teeth and bully boy tactics.I have read many things about them.The horror stories and the brave men and women who have stood up to them.Some tremendous stories of courage to hard to put into words.

But will it.Drive people to them.

Have you ever seen or been asked by a survey, in this country ,would banning payday loans make you go to a loan shark.

Have you ever seen a pdf anywhere here with this research.

There may be but i have not seen it.

The estate i used to live on had them and even in my most desperate times i would not use them.And there were many times.

I have had to go to America to find one and maybe you would like to see it.

Here it is.

http://law.wlu.edu/deptimages/lewis%...ssionDraft.pdf

And let us not forget the organisations who now fight them here.

Maybe you would like to take a look.Or follow them on twitter.

https://twitter.com/LoanSharkNews

And the team in Birmingham who fight them.

Contact

We can be contacted 24 hours a day, seven days a week on :- Telephone - 0300 555 2222

e-mail:reportaloanshark@stoploan sharks.gov.uk

or by text to: loan(space)shark(space) + your message to 60003

You can also find out more about our work at : www.facebook.com/stoploansharksproject

Our team is National so although we are based in Birmingham we cover and investigate illegal money lenders across the whole of England.

Illegal Money Lending Team

http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/cs/Sate...pper%2FWrapper

And a youtube video.

There are many videos

Choose one that suits

Stop loan sharks channel on youtube has many.And stories.

For anyone.

Who may know someone in trouble.

How to check the lender is licensed.

http://blog.vincentbond.com/2013/02/...is-authorised/

If we were handing out petitions and leaflets in America this kind of thing may happen to us.

Can you believe it.You can hardly write this stuff.

As the Rev. Susan McCann stood outside a public library in Springfield, Mo., last year, she did her best to persuade passers-by to sign an initiative to ban high-cost payday loans. But it was difficult to keep her composure, she remembers. A man was shouting in her face.

He and several others had been paid to try to prevent people from signing. "Every time I tried to speak to somebody," she recalls, "they would scream, ‘Liar! Liar! Liar! Don't listen to her!'"

Such confrontations, repeated across the state, exposed something that rarely comes into view so vividly: the high-cost lending industry's ferocious effort to stay legal and stay in business.

The Cheque Centre has just invaded Blackpool.

I have sent them a welcome.On Twitter

Welcome to Blackpool Cheque Centre

The firm that trap people on the debt cycle.

Nice bosses you have staff,enjoy.

Some who read this may think that is not very fair.Well read this.

Cheque Centre: One of Britain’s biggest payday loan firms targets cash-strapped families who become trapped in debt cycle

The high street chain keeps desperate borrowers on its books by offering them new loans with sky-high interest rates

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news...iggest-2070924

I have suggested the Credit Unions,The Church, And the Post Office network and someone like Bank Of Dave link up to really take the sharks on.I have asked questions but no one answers.

So i now just keep writing it.

8000 Post Offices-Within a mile of 90% of the population.

7000 Or More Church Premises

500 Credit Unions

If that could not be the winning combination.I do not know what could be.

I rest my case.Once again.

That and abolishing CPAs at banks would be nice.

How much are banks making on the back of this problem also needs to be asked.

Two and half thousands year ago the Romans capped interest rates at 8.3%. What have we done in the UK?

The businesses continue not only to exploit the urban poor but also to socio-economically subjugate them by trapping many into a virtually ceaseless debt cycle. In the end, a blanket proscription of these businesses might be the only way to drive them from the center-city and prevent them from perpetuating poverty.

Yet the political party that supposedly espouses Christian values is not on the side of the righteous, but on the side of greedy payday lenders. Christianity and the exploitation of the poor are irreconcilable concepts. You can't claim to be the former and also allow the latter to happen.

And ask your friends and family perhaps to join their local credit union.

Find it here.

http://www.findyourcreditunion.co.uk/home

Comparison.--

From the top Payday Lender for 30 days

(Repayment date: Mon Sep 16 2013) Borrowing £299 + Interest & fees £96.85 = Total to repay £395.85

Credit union for 252 Days. Borrowing £299 + Interest £21.16= Total to repay £320.16 for 252 days.

What is that small chap saying to the payday lender

And while i am here.Can someone answer this question.

Where does the money go.

We need a rescue plan to save the common man,and women.

Last i saw it was heading some place up town.

Some practices so fundamentally affront our shared values that they should quite simply be prohibited. It is one thing to exploit the urban poor, but it is another thing to systematically worsen their socio-economic condition and to thereby subject them to greater control and subservience. Exploitation, in other words, might be tolerable in our market economy, but subjugation should not be. You can take people’s money and the value of their labor, but you not should be able to yoke them permanently or even semi-permanently to subordination. By actively making the urban poor even poorer, the rent-to-own, payday lending, and title pawn businesses do just that and should be banned.

Anyone who knows my threads on the CAG about these kinds of problems knows how i get rather annoyed with the antics of the lenders.

If you do not-have a look at one of my threads.You could write a book.

With the info in there.It is 19 pages long now.And would take some reading.

Maybe start from 17.You will soon see what is going on.

Protests,tricks,Problems internationally.It is all there.If you get the time.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?311559-End-Legalised-Loan-Sharks./page17

I will be getting a shirt made with perhaps a great Tawnyowl on the front.

And A CAG message on the back.With end legal loansharking on it.

Or similar.Any ideas welcome.I will get it made tomorrow.

May even get a sharks fin.

May even get a barbecue going.Here we go again-imagination running wild,not for the first time.

Recipe for the sharks coming.Back in a mo.

Recipe for Loan Sharks-Legal or Illegal

1. Rinse the legal loan shark and trim off any skin.
   
2. Mix together the soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, garlic salt, thyme, black pepper, and chili powder in a small bowl to form a paste. Spread a thin layer of the soy sauce mixture on both sides of each legal loan shark shark steak. Place on a plate and cover. Allow to marinate in the refrigerator at least 30 minutes.
   
3. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
   
4. Arrange the legal loan shark on a baking sheet. Bake the legal loan shark in the preheated oven until cooked completely through, about 40 minutes, turning the legal loan shark steaks over once, about half-way through the cooking time.
   
5. I am sure by this time they and their friends would see things our way.Perhaps.
   
6. Please excuse this light hearted look at things-just a break from such a serious matter.
   
7. I will now resume normal service.I thank you for your understanding.
   

I feel enough said for now.Looking forward to the protest.

I will be there

In St Johns square.I will be there from 10-30 as many will be.

Just going to phone headquarters and offer my services.

I will write a small piece on how it all went I will not be able to resist.And try to get some pictures.

First time at a protest-it will be interesting.

If you are there on Friday look for me,i will gladly talk to you and tell you some tales about the legal loan sharks from many different countries.I will at least have the CAG logo on my shirt.And try to get the tawny owl printed on the front.I am as bald as a badger and slightly weathered from my walks on the shoreline.

Made a slight mistake with my calculations yesterday.

I have suggested the Credit Unions,The Church, And the Post Office network and someone like Bank Of Dave link up to really take the sharks on.I have asked questions but no one answers.

So i now just keep writing it.

8000 Post Offices-Within a mile of 90% of the population.

7000 Or More Church Premises

500 Credit Unions

If that could not be the winning combination.I do not know what could be.

I rest my case.Once again.

Should be--

8000 Post Offices-Within a mile of 90% of the population.

15000 Or More Church Premises Serving 9000 communities

500 Credit Unions

If that could not be the winning combination.I do not know what could be.

I rest my case.Once again.

I hope many turn up tomorrow in St Johns Square in the Town Centre.

You can not miss it look for the church.

Some Peregrine Falcons may be flying round the spire.

As they do at times.

The old owl better keep a close watch on them.

I do not want to lose any feathers.

Gordon Marsden MP for Blackpool South is going to be there in St Johns Square.

A MP who cares about people in his community.Being targeted by predatory payday lenders.

Targeting you and your community.And your families-communities and friends.

What is your MP doing about this matter.Ask them.And tell us.

I believe Mike Barry will also be there.Operations Director of the Local Credit Union.

Come on down and meet them.

MY FIRST PAYDAY LOAN PROTEST.IN GREAT DETAIL.LIVE AS IT HAPPENED.

I PRESENT TO YOU LIVE FROM BLACKPOOL-MY STORY.

MY FIRST PROTEST.

Up early rushing around wondering what the day will bring.Backwards and forwards round the house getting nowhere it seemed.

Slightly excited thinking to myself you have written about these problems long enough now you are now going to take some sort of action on the street.Who is this voice talking to me,am i going mad.i thought.

I checked the bus time table,it was still early,so decided to go to a small bakery about half a mile away for breakfast.

I went in and ordered a healthy breakfast.A bacon barm known down south as a bacon roll ,i remembered my short time down south working when i asked for a bacon barm to be corrected. And a steaming mug of tea.The owner 71 told me about his life in the baking industry and about the sandwich shop business that he anyway is doing very well out of..

Not surprising really.Food so fresh and plenty of it.

But is soon to retire.Shame.

Thanking them,the staff for their very friendly manner i set off for the bus stop.I would usually walk but decided to get there early and watch things develop.

Approaching the Town Centre i got off and went to a local newsagents to buy a new notepad.With a pen 70p not to bad i thought.

Walking now towards St Johns Square near the Winter Gardens about half a mile away now.Time 9-30 am

A very well dressed man in front of me- about 200 metres in front. heading towards the square.i thought to myself i wonder if he is something to do with the protest.

Closing in now on St Johns Square i spotted a bus in the square with 6 or seven nice looking girls,very smart and giving leaflets out.

I wonder could this be the part of the protest.The man i had spotted earlier was now talking to them.Then i spotted the advertising on top of the bus-Avon.He was the area manager i asked.much later.

MMM i decided to calm down a touch,having written about things before i decided to park myself in a small gap between the Winter Gardens and a shop and observe things.A gap about 5 foot wide and three feet in depth, a small ledge about 1 foot of the ground.I sat down.

Directly in front of me was the Church,a wonderful building as the picture shows.The clock on the spire said 10.05 am

I got my notepad out and started writing.Fountains to the left of me, coming straight out of the neat cobbled looking area,straight out of the ground with a rhythmic beat as the water fell back to the ground.Alternating in height every 30 seconds or so.Very entertaining.

Shoppers going about their business to and fro,the same as many towns and cities around the country.

Cafes and coffee shops around,seats outside people having a break,relaxing.

Thoughts started going through my mind,have i got the wrong day.

I have announced this protest all over the place and as yet no one around.

Another thought went through my mind.MPs were called back to Parliament yesterday for the important vote on Syria.

Was the protest perhaps going to be cancelled.How could a MP get back for the protest after being through what must have been a stressful day in London. I found out later.

The fountains stopped for a moment..I decided to move on.

Where shall i go,i looked around-a coffee would be nice.30 metres away was a ideal location..

Walking in the shop i ordered a coffee."Sit down i will bring it to you" the assistant said."We have a bit of a rush on".

I was pleased with this news,i certainly was in no rush.

Walking outside i sat down by a table with four chairs.A chap across from me doing the crossword and talking to himself.

MMM must be a hard one.Totally engrossed.

The coffee arrived.

After about 5 minutes unnoticed to me a couple had sat down.Opposite on another table.

I had been looking the other way.Watching vans etc moving slowly,just in case.

Observing them,not obviously i noticed the words CWU.on their case and clothes, packed with leaflets etc.

2 flag poles laid on a seat.

We introduced ourselves and i was invited to sit down with them.

I really was glad to find comrades.I do not mind being by myself,i usually am,but not today.

They had come up from Cheshire.Had been up this way before protesting.Walked through the town with their flags.And had pictures in the local paper.They had been to many places.I will mention their protest later.

All of a sudden Gordon Marsden appeared in front of us.MP for Blackpool South.

No one with him, by himself.

The other couple introduced themselves as i did and shook hands.

mmm-i have not talked to a MP before or protested. i decided to listen for a while

A very smart looking chap,to me ,the city look,suited ,open shirt.tanned,tall greying hair.Possible tie in pocket.

I wonder where he appeared from.I found out later when i asked him.That is a story by itself.

I had listened intently to the conversation taking place about many things.

And stored a couple of questions myself.For later.

Well that is four of us i thought,plenty enough for a protest.

5 minutes went by.

It is amazing when a MP appears.

All of a sudden,tables were set up,leaflets,petitions appeared.Flagpoles were raised.Flags fluttering in the breeze.

It was done as quick as that.Protest could begin.

The MPs helpers and supporters had arrived like a cavalry charge.

Things started happening.Rapidly.

People started looking,we started moving.Towards the tables,full of flyers,petitions,credit union info,placards etc.

Flyers were being handed out to what seemed like hundreds of people.

Talking to them in my case about the payday loan problems facing many.

Then asking them to move over to the tables and perhaps sign the petition

Which so many did.

Hard at time perhaps to grab their interest.You only have a few seconds to try.

Before they move on.I perhaps should have put my shark suit on.And a fin.

I may well do next time.

But perhaps 80% did.And so many knew people in difficulty with the legal loan sharks.

I felt like a trainee Grafter,a name in these parts for someone who tries to get attention on the Promenade for their business.

3 hours passed by or should i say flashed by.

The protest was over.

Tables packed away,leaflets flags,poles put away

For a protest another day.

Walking home i had a happy feeling of satisfaction i suppose.

Written about them,protested about them and still will.

Anyone who has the time and strong feelings about the problems out there,go for it.You will enjoy the feeling it gives you.

Similar to a workout.At the gym.

The local Credit union was represented.

This is the Blackpool credit union.Some may want to join.Link here.

http://www.bfwcu.co.uk/

Nationally if you want to join yours.Link below.

Keep the legal loan sharks away

Join your local credit union today.

http://www.findyourcreditunion.co.uk/home

Also Gordon Marsden is hosting a local jobs fair at Blackpool Football Club

On 11TH Oct 2013 from 10-30- 1430

The CWU were asking to Tackle dog laws-Tackle The Deed Not The Breed -link to the petition here.

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/47845

Also The CWU were asking for support to save the Post Office link here.

http://www.cwu.org/save-our-royal-mail.html

I met many local councillor's to many to mention them all.But all seemed to care about their wards.

And we had a good chat about many things.

And also some of Gordon Marsden MPs helpers,who were very friendly

Now the questions i wanted to ask Gordon Marsden MP for Blackpool South.

Some times you have the saying-you could not write this stuff,people will not believe you.

As i said before i would ask later.Which i did.

Where did he appear from.This morning.

After yesterday in Parliament which finished so late.

He only got up about 4-30am in the morning in London.

Took the train From Euston

Arrived in Blackpool just before the protest

Stood for hours talking to people

How about that for a MP who cares about his community.

Beat that.

Ask your MP what are they doing about the legal loan sharks targeting your community.

Maybe now i have finished.

I hope it describes how a protest happens and my experience of my first one clearly.

One i will not forget anyway.

Maybe now to finish off a bit off entertainment.

Then i feel i have completed my mission.

This one anyway.

Let Me Entertain You.

My daughter and many others do shows for charity.Help the heroes http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/

and other charity events.Such as last years Christmas show.2012

http://www.trinityhospice.co.uk/events/blackpool-ice-drome-charities-peter-pan/

I hope some of you may enjoy some of my daughters skating.

She has worked hard and is only 18.

Trains in Blackpool.The boy skating with Holly is her brother Dan.

British Silver medalist.

Some of the clips are from the Childrens Christmas charity show that runs for 10 days.

I think i will keep this thread as a Payday Loan Protest Page.

Here are the Leeds -Manchester-Liverpool London-York Ashford and possibly Newcastle Doncaster and Derby protests this Saturday. 7th Sept 2013

Legal Loan Sharks Demos This Saturday.

The People's Assemblies are organising a national day of coordinated peaceful direct action against "legal loan sharks" on Saturday 7th September.

We all know that these are profiteers right now making a killing from the economic hardship of low-waged workers - reaping a boom in profits with their extortionate interest rates etc.

1-Leeds-

I think the best thing i can do is let you hit the links rather than copy and paste.

https://www.facebook.com/events/222608471231523

2--Manchester-

https://www.facebook.com/events/177395452445200/

3-Liverpool-

https://www.facebook.com/events/737185952977742/

4- Ashford.

https://www.facebook.com/events/648190448533052/

5- London

https://www.facebook.com/events/159274794277730/

And if you have any payday loan problems join the CAG Tell us your story.

Many will help you through your difficult time.Advice and help will come.

Join today-it is free.

Link below.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/register.php

And if anyone wants a speaker at any of these events-one who has looked at things internationally.

Give me a shout.just have plenty of credit union applications and flyers available.

And i would need a lift.There is the snag.

And one massive megaphone.

I would like people to get the message what the legal loan sharks are doing to their communities.

And a cup of tea would be very welcome.

Tawnyowl.

Big announcements soon about what you can do in your community-to rid the cities and towns of the sharks that target you and your families.

And give a boost to Credit Unions

My advice to the Credit Unions is prepare yourselves.

And get the printers running.You may need many more application forms in your Towns and Cities.

Small ideas could grow

And make the Sharks feel low.

Deal them the mortal blow.

Chipping away at them slowly maybe.

But better to try and perhaps fail than not to try at all.

My ideas will be announced soon.And many of you out there can get involved in your communities.Perhaps doing similar things.

Watch this space.

I like to put some music on every now and again.To lighten things.In a serious world.And i bet many out there feel the same.As the next statement.

So much to do if I only had time.

.If I only had time dreams to pursue

If I only had time they'll be mine

No more from Tawnyowl till my next announcement.

Good evening to everyone out there-somewhere.

Thinking of you all.

Doing your best in these troubled times.

My next protest has already happened.Slightly bigger.

Went to Manchester.The protest against the NHS being sold off,outsourced.,Bedroom tax, Atos.And more.

5 videos and the story.

The BBC did not want to know.50,000 OTHERS DID.

Believe me David Cameron was shaken not stirred as 50,000 marched by.

This was a historic day,the biggest Manchester has ever had.

See the lady from Coronation Street as you have never seen her before.

Take a look.Link.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?311559-End-Legalised-Loan-Sharks./page22

One way to try to fight back against the Legal Loan Sharks is to take the Credit Union from

small back offices to the middle of the Town Centre bang in the middle of the High Street where the banks are.And

where the legal loan sharks usually are looking for victims..

Blackpool is about to do this with help from the council.Where is your Credit Union.

And is your council helping them in some way.

Credit union takes on pay-day lenders

Around 4,000 people are currently members of the Blackpool, Wyre and Fylde Credit Union which is owned by its members and last year paid out a dividend of three per cent.

Members have accumulated savings of almost £1.8m and the credit union has issued more than £4m in loans since its launch four years ago. It is estimated this has saved members £2.5m in interest payments when compared to the same average loans through doorstep lenders.

http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/news/business/local-business/credit-union-takes-on-pay-day-lenders-1-6298550

Preston declares war on payday loan companies

http://www.lep.co.uk/news/preston-declares-war-on-payday-loan-companies-1-6164884