Senior leaders from Yorkshire Building Society, including chief executive Susan Allen, volunteered at FareShare Yorkshire’s Leeds hub to gain direct insight into the charity’s work supporting communities facing food insecurity and barriers to employment.
The visit is part of the society’s ongoing partnership with FareShare UK, through which it funds the Building Skills for the Future programme.
The initiative provides practical training and accredited qualifications such as food hygiene and manual handling, alongside CV and interview support, to help people move closer to sustainable employment.
Launched in December 2023, the programme has already supported more than 1,000 participants across regions including Yorkshire, Merseyside, London, Edinburgh and Cardiff.
So far, 105 people have secured paid work, with many more gaining qualifications and confidence.
Since the partnership began, Yorkshire Building Society has raised over £700,000, with a target of more than £1m by June 2026.
Around 500 colleagues have volunteered with FareShare activities, including warehouse support, supermarket collections and fundraising. An additional outreach initiative delivers free workshops on job searching and financial wellbeing.
During the Leeds visit, executives took part in warehouse tasks similar to those completed by programme participants, sorting and preparing food for distribution to local charities.
Susan Allen, chief executive of Yorkshire Building Society said: “Volunteering at FareShare Yorkshire was incredibly inspiring. Seeing first-hand the impact FareShare is making in communities across the UK brought to life the importance of our partnership.
“Around 500 Yorkshire Building Society colleagues have volunteered their time to support the partnership in many ways, from supporting FareShare’s warehouse operations, manning food collections at supermarkets and running and taking part in fundraising events. It is wonderful to see how their efforts directly support people in communities up and down the UK.
“Over a thousand people have already benefitted from the Building Skills for the Future programme. As well as improving important employability skills, it’s helping people improve their financial resilience and supporting them to build a better future.”
Jonathan Williams, chief executive officer at FareShare Yorkshire said: “We were delighted to welcome the executive team from Yorkshire Building Society to our Leeds hub to see the Building Skills for the Future programme in action.
“Our employability programmes support people who may be vulnerable into good, sustainable work, helping to maximise their strengths, overcome barriers to employment and take advantage of opportunities that change lives. The partnership with Yorkshire Building Society is making a vital contribution to these programmes and we’re making good progress towards our goal to support 2,500 people through the Building Skills for the Future programme by 2026.
“Through working at FareShare, participants help deliver much needed surplus food to people and communities in need. This meaningful work sees participants help strengthen their local communities while creating clear paths into employment for themselves and lift themselves out of financial hardship.”
