Sharon has written to Martin Bain, Chief Executive of Sunderland A.F.C., following the recent announcement of a sponsorship deal between the football club and Satsuma Loans, a branch of umbrella financial services company of Provident Financial.

In her letter, Sharon Hodgson MP asks for further explanation and rationale behind this sponsorship deal, citing that such a deal could undermine the positive community engagement work of S.A.F.C. by working with a payday lender company which as a representative APR of 1575% and on investigation of Satsuma’s website found that a £1000 short-term loan would mean paying back £431.04 in interest over 13 weeks which sky-rockets to £990.04 if borrowed for 52 weeks.

Speaking after writing her letter, Sharon said:

“When the announcement of S.A.F.C and Satsuma Loans was brought to my attention and further investigation of Satsuma Loans repayment schemes, it was clear that I needed to write to the Chief Executive of S.A.F.C. to get further clarification and rationale for this decision.

“Payday lenders can be a dangerous way of pushing people already financially squeezed into debt, and sometimes even further into debt, when they advertised such quick loans with the sting in their tail of high interest repayments. Personal debt is a problem here in Sunderland and for our top sports team to be working with them needs further explanation about why this decision was come to, and what Satsuma Loans will be doing to work with our local communities.”

You can read a copy of Sharon Hodgson MP’s letter to Martin Bain, Chief Executive of Sunderland A.F.C. here. 

You can read the sponsorship deal announcement on S.A.F.C.’s website here.