Congratulations to Greener Leith and PEDAL-Portobello for winning the Energyshare vote! They would like to thank anyone who voted for them.
This funding does not guarantee that the wind turbine will be built, but it does mean that they now have all the funding in place to complete the planning application and associated feasiblity studies.
For more information, please click on the links below:
The Bank of England Base Rate has stayed at 0.5% for the whole of 2011 and appears likely to remain unchanged for some time yet. It looks as though interest rates on deposit accounts may also remain fairly static into 2012. In general, changes to rates over the year have been slight.
Whilst interest rates on longer term fixed rate deposit accounts have fallen slightly during the year, variable rates and rates on accounts with a shorter fixed term have actually risen. Rates available on regular saver accounts have just started to creep up towards the end of the year and no changes have been made to rates offered to children, with the exception of the introduction of the Junior ISA.
In terms of the accounts in the ethical section, there have been few changes to variable rates over the year; however, the fixed rate offerings from the Co-operative (and Brittannia) have gradually reduced whereas those from Triodos have actually increased.
Please click on the link below for our list of suggested accounts for December:
Greener Leith, a local environment group, is in the final short list for a grant of up to £80,000 for their proposed Portobello and Leith Community Wind Turbine project. If the project gets the green light it won’t just generate green energy, it will also generate a surplus of hundreds of thousands of pounds over its lifetime. It is their intention to use this surplus to support community projects in the Leith, Craigentinny and Portobello area.
In order to gain the £80,000 funding required, they have to win an online public vote and at the time of writing, they are currently running a very close second. If you would like to help, please click on the link below and vote for the project:
http://www.energyshare.com/portobello-leith-community-wind-energy-project/
Please note that voting closes on 3 December 2011.
Although you have to register on the Energyshare website, the whole process should only take a couple of minutes, and you can opt out of any further communications. Every vote counts, so Greener Leith would be grateful if this link is passed on to as many people as possible.
For further information on the project, please click on the following link:
http://www.greenerleith.org/a-z/p-is-for/portobello-and-leith-community-wind-turbine.html
The Bank of England Base Rate remains at 0.5% and interest rates on deposit accounts are continuing to fall, particularly longer term fixed rates, to the extent that three and five year ISA rates are now pretty much the same and two year rates are almost as high.
Rates for Junior ISAs have been included in the ‘Accounts for Children’ section on the final page. Please be aware, however, that this type of account might not be the best option in all cases, as it cannot be accessed until the child reaches the age of 18, at which point the money will belong to the child and parents/guardians will have no right to control how the money is used. Please speak to your financial adviser if you would like to explore alternative options.
Please click on the link below for information on rates available at the beginning of November.
Deposit Account Rates – November 2011
Figures released in the run up to National Ethical Investment Week (16 – 22 November 2011) by EIRIS, the non-profit sustainable investment research firm, show that the amount of money invested in Britain’s green and ethical retail funds (i.e. those funds open to the general public) has reached a record high of £11.3 billion.
This represents over three quarters of a million investors and has increased from around 250,000 investors a decade ago, at which point just £4 billion was invested ethically in the UK. Furthermore, the Investment Management Association have announced that purchases of holdings in UK Ethical funds in the second quarter of 2011 were 25% greater than in same quarter of 2010.
Growing public awareness of ethical issues and increased media attention are likely to be partly responsible for this rise, together with a continual broadening of green and ethical investment opportunities as fund managers take advantage of the popularity of this area of investment and growing numbers of companies realise the importance of social responsibility. A widening market means that investing ethically does not necessitate incurring a higher level of investment risk and is not likely to be detrimental to performance. Chosen investments can now be as mainstream or niche as the investor desires.
Junior ISAs will be available from 1st November 2011. These tax-free children’s savings accounts will have an annual limit of £3,600. Each eligible child can hold one Cash Junior ISA and one Stocks and Shares Junior ISA at any one time and these elements can be held in any proportion. Further information can be found on the Directgov site at: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Nl1/Newsroom/DG_192028
Interest rates for Junior Cash ISAs will appear on our November Deposit Account Rates information sheet. If you are interested in setting up a Junior Stocks and Shares ISA, our financial advisers would be happy to assist you.
To mark the beginning of National Ethical Investment Week, Julian appeared in an article in the Mail on Sunday on 16th October.
You can read the article at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/investing/article-2049603/Save-cash–planet-How-ethical-investors-principles-make-profit.html
