Leeds Building Society
Our long-term partnership with Leeds Building Society began in 2021 and became award winning in 2024 when it was celebrated as the Best Environmental Impact Partnership of the year at the Third Sector Charity Business Awards.
An award-winning partnership
The judges said we were the “standout nominee for the best environmental impact partnership due to our multifaceted approach to addressing pressing environmental challenges while fostering community engagement and wellbeing.”
The award was won on the back of our work together in 2023, where the Society’s invaluable support enabled the delivery of impactful projects that addressed the climate and biodiversity crises:
- A tree was planted for every new children’s savings account opened between January and July. In total, 8,748 trees were planted in the Yorkshire Dales and surrounding areas.
- In the second half of the year, efforts switched to restoring a hectare of species rich wildflower meadow, helping to bring this incredibly biodiverse habitat back from brink of extinction.
- Over 100 Leeds Building Society staff volunteered their time, planting and maintaining woodlands in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales. Their hard work, which included the planting of 2500 trees, helped capture 3.75 tonnes of CO2 per volunteer – the equivalent of 20,000 travel miles from a family sized car.
We’re so proud of this award and thrilled that our partnership has been recognised as being industry-leading. It has been a pleasure working with the Responsible Business Team to ensure our partnership is delivering maximum impact for our beneficiaries, while enabling key elements of their ESG strategy.
Staff engagement has been key to the partnership’s growth and really brought the partnership to life. We hope the success of this partnership will inspire other businesses to think about how they can deliver positive social and environmental impacts in their local area.
What our partners say
“We began working with the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust in 2021, planting trees for every new children’s savings account opened and on behalf of every one of our colleagues each year. We’ve now planted over 15,000 trees in the Yorkshire Dales, offsetting an estimated 2,500 tonnes of carbon over the next 50 years."
“We’re incredibly proud of our partnership with Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust, what it has achieved, and of being recognised by the Third Sector Business Charity Awards as the Best Environmental Impact Partnership. Supporting our communities and looking after the planet are two things we’re passionate about, and our partnership ensures members and colleagues can support a stable financial and environmental future for generations to come.” Wendy Carter, Responsible Business Lead at Leeds Building Society.
Learn more about our partnerships
