Metfriendly CEO Annette Petchey talks about the expense of family life, in particular during the school summer holidays.

My most recent ride-along was actually more of a walk-along, as I went out with two Paired Patrols from Charing Cross Police Station’s Neighbourhood Policing team at the invitation of Insp. Greig Baker-Doyle.

I haven’t been on a Ride-Along for a while, so when Supt. Dan Rutland invited me to visit Central East Basic Command Unit (BCU), I was delighted to accept.

"I have worked in a lot of organisations over the years, and it is rare to see an objective so clearly drive the vast majority of activity and time."

As we have witnessed significant volatility in stock markets around the world linked to events in Ukraine we have been looking at ways to help our Members understand the impact of such financial movements on their Metfriendly investments.

I have been Metfriendly’s CEO for 10 months now, and my education in what the Police Family does is continuing with several meetings and other occasions.

We have come to the end of Talk Money Week, and I was delighted that we were able to address so many of the concerns raised by our friends in the Police.

When I write these blogs, I usually focus on my own life events, my family, and money rather than our members. This time is different because of an opportunity I was given recently, so please forgive my digression.

It’s the end of September, which means I have survived another year’s “return to school” challenge.

I have learned a lot from bees. I started keeping bees for almost entirely selfish reasons. I love honey and my late neighbour, a longstanding beekeeper, encouraged me to stop raiding his supplies, and start building my own.

I keep finding myself saying things to my two children that my parents said to me and my siblings as we were growing up.

It was great to finally see some family and friends over Easter after the long winter lockdown and the sunshine on Sunday really helped lift my spirits.

Last week I hosted a wine tasting on Zoom for a friend of mine who is a member of a wine club. What does a wine tasting have to do with Metfriendly I hear you ask?

A quirk of Metfriendly being a Friendly Society is that some of the products it offers are unique to friendly Societies, like the Ten Year Savings plan.

Nick’s recent blog: “Things I wish I could say to my younger self” has had lots of positive feedback within the Metfriendly community and if you haven’t read it yet it’s definitely worth a look. I particularly like the idea of not spending all of your pay rise – definitely a sensible idea. As Nick[..]

It’s coming to the end of August and, despite the pandemic, for many of us its traditionally the time for family holidays and ice cream at the seaside. This month rather than talking about flavours of ice cream (Häagen-Dazs Salted Caramel for me!), I’ve been asked by a friend about different[..]

Month 1 – How to perform a quick and simple money health check.

What does the potential transfer of Police Mutual to Royal London mean for Metfriendly members?

Albert Einstein is quoted as saying “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it ... he who doesn't ... pays it.” He then went on to describe it as the “most powerful force in the universe”.

As I sit writing this investment update, I’m at my desk looking out at the river at home rather than the town centre in the office in Orpington. We have all had to adapt to the unusual circumstances we find ourselves in.

I wanted to give you an update on the impact of COVID-19 on Metfriendly. Our business is operating as normal and we are coordinating our response to the virus to ensure we can continue to deliver for our members, look after the health of our employees and maintain the continuity of our business.