# Leeds Building Society seeks two new community partners

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2023/07/18/leeds-building-society-seeks-two-new-community-partners/
- Published: 2023-07-18T11:29:13+01:00
- Author: Melanie May

**Leeds Building Society is looking for two partner organisations to help deliver
its purpose of bringing home ownership within reach of more people.**

The Society is inviting charities to apply to be its next charity partner from April
2024. Over a three-year period, the Society, along with its members and colleagues,
will aim to raise a minimum of £300,000 through a range of fundraising activities.

The Society is also looking for a financial education partner to help support vulnerable
young people who are likely to be at a greater risk of facing financial challenges.
This will be an initial one-year pilot with the potential to extend. The Society
will work with them to deliver sessions to vulnerable groups of young people, aged
between 14 to 25 years who are financially independent and living in Leeds and the
surrounding area.

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**Charity partner eligibility criteria:**

 * Must closely align to the Society’s purpose of putting homeownership within reach
   of more people.
 * A UK-wide charity that can provide volunteering and engagement opportunities 
   for colleagues.
 * The charity must not be partnering with any other building society or financial
   services provider in the same way.

The closing date for both applications is 31 August 2023. Applications for the charity
partnership will be considered at a shortlisting meeting in September with the shortlisted
charities invited to pitch to a panel.

The final two charities will be asked to create a video to showcase their work and
Leeds Building Society’s members and colleagues will be able to vote for their favourite
cause. Voting will take place towards the end of the year.

Applications for the financial education partner will be reviewed in September, 
with successful organisations appointed before the end of the year.

Vanessa Roberts, Head of Strategy and Responsible Business said:

> “We are excited to start the search for our next charity partner and find an organisation
> which can help us in delivering our purpose of putting homeownership within reach
> of more people.
>  
> “We’re looking for innovative and creative links to our purpose, which might mean
> partnering with charities who support people at risk of homelessness, or who experience
> barriers to home ownership due to their circumstances or background. Our colleagues
> and members are amazing fundraisers and volunteers and we have a lot to offer 
> our next charity partner. We see this as a true partnership and look forward to
> hearing from charities with their ideas.
>  
> “For our education partner, we’re looking for an organisation to help us deliver
> impactful support to vulnerable groups of young people, such as care leavers, 
> those excluded from mainstream education, at risk of homelessness, or who may 
> be experiencing fuel or food poverty. Through the partnership, we plan to deliver
> a financial education programme that is preventative, rather than reactive, to
> prepare and support vulnerable young people who might not always have a strong
> support network to fall back on.”

## Past charity partnership

How much might the new partnership yield? In recent weeks Leeds Building Society
passed the **£700,000** mark in its fundraising for Dementia UK, the specialist 
dementia nursing charity which is its current charity partner.

The Society appointed Dementia UK as its charity partner in April 2020, with a target
of raising £500,000 over four years. The funds raised would enable the charity to
help over 2,500 families living with dementia across the UK.

 * **[Leeds Building Society doubles volunteering time of its staff](https://fundraising.co.uk/2018/06/21/leeds-building-society-doubles-volunteering-time-staff/)(
   21 June 2018)
 * **[Leeds Building Society launches funding in support of parkrun communities](https://fundraising.co.uk/2018/05/16/leeds-building-society-launches-funding-support-parkrun-communities/)(
   16 May 2018)**