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Many thanks for all the help, especially Buenchico's.
I followed the same route as Buenchico, and was thwarted by sloppy journalism and website design.
Find Your Credit Union is fine, it does that, but then it is misleading. My local CUs are in London, and two of them, so that site claimed, offer 'Current Accounts' as a service. I qualified (residential/memberships) for two, so approached them. Neither of them in fact do current accounts.
The Guardian and Independent articles were probably written by people who'd also gone to that FYCU website and noted ther services offered, and just repeated it in their articles. As far as I can discover, no CU, not even the much-lauded Lewisham, actually provide current accounts for anyone - not in the same sense that the 'proper' banks do. Lewisham works through an organisation called 'Engage', which only provides limited current account facilities, and then only for members of a Credit Union with whom they are affiliated.
Bleedin' minefield, or what.
The Co-op is no longer an option for those seeking ethical banking since they were taken over by an overtly capitalist 'hedge fund'. The only possible ethical choice seems to be Triodos, and I am currently trying to get answers from them. I'll post again when/if I do.
BillB