Colleagues from Yorkshire Building Society are celebrating after officially crossing the £1 million fundraising milestone for the Society’s national charity partners.
The incredible seven-figure total was secured after a team of more than 200 colleagues from across the organisation completed a challenging, overnight climb of Mount Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa), Wales’ highest peak.
Scaling the mountain through the darkness to catch the sunrise from the summit, the participants managed to raise an impressive £56,000 from the trek alone. This final injection of funds pushed the aggregate total past the £1 million mark, combining with previous branch fundraisers, bake sales, and major regional challenges like the Yorkshire Three Peaks and the Ilkley Cow and Calf zipline.
The money raised will directly fund Building Skills for the Future, a specialised employability program delivered by charity partners The Felix Project and FareShare. The initiative is carefully designed to help people gain the critical skills, confidence, and qualifications required to secure sustainable, long-term employment.
Photograph by Richard Walker/ImageNorth
The achievement comes at a significant time for the charity network. FareShare officially merged with London-based food redistribution charity The Felix Project earlier this year to establish a larger, more ambitious national organisation. Moving forward, the unified body uses its expansive regional partner network to redirect high-quality surplus food, which would otherwise go to waste, to more than 8,000 local charities and community groups. Aside from distributing food to families in need, these hubs provide essential support services to help individuals tackle the root causes of long-term unemployment.
Yorkshire Building Society’s formal partnership with the merged charity is scheduled to run until Autumn 2026, focusing heavily on getting people back into the workforce.
Susan Allen, chief executive of Yorkshire Building Society, spoke of her pride in the workforce’s dedication: “We are incredibly proud to have reached our £1 million fundraising target. Colleagues across the organisation have shown outstanding commitment to this partnership, giving their time, energy and talents to help us achieve this milestone.
“The Snowdon challenge is a powerful example of that commitment in action. It brought colleagues together behind a shared purpose and pushed many beyond their comfort zones – an achievement that everyone involved should feel immensely proud of.”
The Building Skills for the Future framework provides participants across the UK with vital warehouse and kitchen work experience, vocational qualifications, and professional CV and interview coaching. Additionally, the partnership finances a dedicated face-to-face outreach branch that hosts free, community-level workshops focusing on financial wellbeing, resilience, and job-hunting skills. Collectively, the programs aim to guide 2,500 people toward significantly better long-term employment prospects.
Gareth Batty, Director of Network at The Felix Project & FareShare, added: “We’re incredibly thankful to everyone at Yorkshire Building Society who took part in this challenge. Their efforts and fundraising will directly support our employability programmes, helping people overcome barriers, gain valuable skills and move into sustainable work.”
