Yorkshire Building Society colleagues clock up 6,500 hours for good causes

Colleagues at Yorkshire Building Society gave over 6,500 hours of their time to good causes in 2023 and the Society hopes that even more will get involved with community activities this year, the mutual has said ahead of Volunteers’ Week (3-9 June).

Yorkshire Building Society allows each employee up to 31 hours of volunteering time per year and colleagues are encouraged to get involved with community programmes which will improve financial education or employability skills. The volunteering time can also be used to help support charities that address financial hardship or colleagues can use their professional skills to provide pro-bono support, become a charity trustee, school governor or mentor.

Overall, more than one in five (23%) colleagues across the Society’s head offices in Bradford, Leeds and Peterborough as well as its branches across the UK gave their time to volunteer at least once, but the Society aims to increase this number to a third (33%) in 2024.

Many colleagues choose to use their volunteering hours to help pick and pack surplus food for distribution in local communities with the mutual’s charity partner, FareShare, the UK’s largest charity fighting hunger and food waste. Others deliver financial education through the Society’s flagship Money Minds programme.

Money Minds teaches children, young people and adults about money and prepares them for the world of work. Many of the sessions are delivered by colleagues, in school classrooms, to help children and young people learn more about money through appropriate activities. Younger children learn how to keep money safe, consider wants and needs when it comes to spending or plan a party to experience budgeting. In 2023, the Society reached 16,000 children and young people aged five to nineteen through its Money Minds programme, and as part of UK Savings Week in September 2023, branch colleagues delivered over 200 sessions to over 3,100 people.

Naomi Hockney, community manager, from Yorkshire Building Society said: “We actively encourage colleagues to get involved in volunteering and fundraising opportunities and are proud of the impact their actions have in their local communities.

“As a mutual, our purpose is providing Real Help with Real Life and our volunteering scheme allows our colleagues to get out in the community and deliver that to people who need it most.

“We know that giving back to the places where we live and work creates meaningful connections and improves social wellbeing, but we’ve also seen how volunteering can be beneficial for colleagues to learn new skills, grow in confidence and work towards their development goals.”

For more information about Money Minds, please visit www.ybs.co.uk/your-society/money-minds or for more information about Yorkshire Building Society’s partnership with FareShare, please visit www.ybs.co.uk/FareShare