GOOD CAUSES in Dunfermline are among those to have benefited from a charitable foundation.

Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation made its first donation in 1999 and now it has donated over £10 million over the years to local charities where colleagues and members live and work. 

More than £11,140 has been shared by nine charities in the Dunfermline area since 2020.

These include Scottish Gliding Union – Walking On Air, Seal Dunfermline, ECZEMA Outreach Support, EATS Rosyth, Dunfermline Children’s Clothing Bank, Fife Employment Access Trust, Primrose Community Trust, Acorn Aid Scotland, Kings Templar Good Will Charity. 

The Children’s Clothing Bank Dunfermline (CCBD) received £1000 from YBS in the summer of 2022. This was to be used towards the provision of school uniform for children aged four to 18 in West Fife. 

The packs the charity provides are mainly made up from pre-loved clothes donated by the local community. Sometimes however they can be short of certain items or sizes and need to purchase these.

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Their school uniform packs consist of five shirts/ polo shirts, three trousers/skirts/pinafores, two sweatshirts/jumpers/cardigans, five pairs of school socks, or three pairs of tights, as well as shorts and shoes suitable for gym.

Over the school year 2022/23, the Children’s Clothing Bank responded to 99 requests for uniform. Almost one-third of these came in during the months of June, July, and August.

Judy Corbett, chair at CCBD, said: “The funding from YBS was crucial to our being able to help all these families.

“We were also delighted that the Dunfermline branch of the YBS set up a donation point that summer so that customers could donate school clothing, both new and pre-loved. 

“The response from the public was such that the branch repeated that support this summer just past!

“All in all, we are very grateful to the Yorkshire for their support both in cash and in kind - without them, there would have been a fair few families struggling to afford uniform for their children for the school year 2022/23.”

Ramsay Duncan, branch manager at Yorkshire Building Society’s Dunfermline branch, said: “I’m delighted that the Charitable Foundation has supported so many charities and good causes in our community, nominated by our colleagues and members.

“The donations have made a huge difference to people locally and it’s thanks to the ongoing generosity of our members that the Charitable Foundation can continue to support so many causes.

“We’re so proud to have helped to play a part in donating over £10 million to charities and good causes across the UK. It shows small change really can make a big difference.”

Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation is funded through the Small Change Big Difference scheme. Members donate pennies from the interest on their accounts just once a year to help smaller charities around the UK.