A team of 13 senior leaders from Yorkshire Building Society spent the night under the stars to raise money for the mutual’s charity partner, FareShare, as part of CEO Sleepout’s event at Elland Road Stadium in Leeds.
The group of colleagues, which included chief executive Susan Allen, chief financial officer, Tom Ranger and interim chief commercial officer, Tom Simpson, raised over £13,000 for the food redistribution charity. The group was joined by FareShare’s chief executive officer, Kris Gibbon-Walsh and network director, Gareth Batty.
CEO Sleepout is a nationwide event which sees business leaders sleep outdoors for a night to raise money and awareness for charities that fight homelessness and poverty.
Yorkshire Building Society’s partnership with FareShare began in November 2023. Through the partnership, the mutual aims to raise over £1 million to fund Building Skills for the Future employability programmes in seven of the charity’s 34 regional centres, including Yorkshire, London, Bristol, Milton Keynes, Merseyside, Edinburgh, and Cardiff. The programmes will offer coaching, support, practical workshops and work experience to help enable participants to secure full-time employment.
In addition, the partnership will fund an outreach programme offering free of charge face-to-face sessions and workshops helping participants overcome financial hardship by supporting the building of important skills such as CV writing, job searching and improving financial wellbeing. It is hoped that the two programmes will help 2,500 people improve their employability and help them become more financially resilient.
Susan Allen, chief executive of Yorkshire Building Society said: “At Yorkshire Building Society, a core part of our purpose is helping people improve their financial wellbeing and find a place to call home. That’s why we’ve partnered with FareShare to support them in their mission to tackle the problem of food waste, and to help lift people out of financial hardship and into the world of work.
“Taking part in CEO Sleepout not only gave us a great opportunity to support FareShare, but also helped us to gain further insights into the challenges facing local people in the grip of financial hardship.”
"Sleeping out for the night was a powerful experience, with all the participants creating such a supportive atmosphere. As well as giving up our home comforts for a night, my colleagues and I learned more about the issues that so many people are facing and how businesses, like ours, can come together to help to overcome some of these challenges."
Kris Gibbon-Walsh, chief executive officer of FareShare said: “We are hugely grateful to all the Yorkshire Building Society colleagues who took on the challenge of the CEO Sleepout in support of FareShare, and for all the generous donations received.
“I was delighted to be able to join members of the Yorkshire Building Society’s senior leadership team at Elland Road and contribute to raising awareness of homelessness. Through our work redistributing surplus food to thousands of frontline charities across the UK, we witness firsthand the scale of need in communities.
“This partnership with Yorkshire Building Society not only supports our mission to reduce food waste and provide vital meals but also makes a crucial contribution to our employability programme, which helps thousands of people find long-term employment in the food industry. Together, we are making a lasting impact on people’s lives and strengthening communities."
