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Natalia Chervonyi

Natalia Chervonyi is the Financial Service Representative at our London Branch. This year she will be celebrating 20 years of service at UCU. There is no one at UCU who has as much experience about our membership and community in London as Natalia does. So if you want to reminisce about people or events from years past, don’t hesitate to talk to Natalia since she knows it all.

Natalia was born in Rivne, Ukraine and lived there until she finished high school. Natalia comes from a big family – she has three brothers and one sister. She was really good at sport, especially athletics. In grade school her coach predicted a splendid future in sport but after the family emigrated from Ukraine, she had to put athletics aside.

Natalia took a circuitous route in getting to London. The first stop for Natalia was Austria. She will never forget the beauty of Vienna, where she first got the chance to live on her own. She got her first job at a hotel in Austria at the tender age of 17. It was a wondrous experience, exposing her to a wide range of new experiences. For example, Natalia had never tried bananas and other exotic fruits before coming to Austria – in Soviet times, these sorts of delicacies usually didn’t make it past Moscow and other major cities.



Natalia & her family



When the family relocated to London, Natalia landed her first job in Canada as a Member Service Representative at London branch. It was 1991, she had just married, and came with her husband to open a joint account. The assistant branch manager offered her a job on the spot! Natalia was didn’t have much banking experience at the time, but she dove into the job with great gusto. Anyone who comes into the branch can immediately sense that she is devoted to her job and to the members, all of whom she knows by name.  

Natalia is a busy mom of four. It is hard to believe that her older children are grown up already. She has an outgoing and positive personality, always smiling and joking she makes special atmosphere at the branch. She gets along with everybody.

Natalia is also an active member of her church community. She loves singing. She and her family take part in the church choir and musical band. She teaches at Ukrainian Sunday School. She enjoys camping, travelling, knitting and cooking. And recently we discovered her new hobby – building houses. Her own house is her first project – she came up with the design and is acting as the general contractor. Just think – our Natalia on a construction site with steel-toed boots and a yellow hard hat!



Showing off all their hard work!
Hey... those don't look like construction boots!?



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