FROM cycling to mountain climbing, litter picking and tree planting, today’s businesses encourage staff to step out of their day-to-day roles to raise money to help others.

Corporate social responsibility is a key area for many large companies across the UK, and includes helping to make a difference by volunteering to help good causes, often in the local community.

Earlier this year four members of staff from Freemans Grattan Holdings swapped their office chairs for saddles and took a break from analysing sales charts to tackle the peaks of Yorkshire in an epic charity challenge.

Nathaniel Chang, Simon Warner, John Cook and Paul Simpson cycled 127 miles from Bradford to the company’s contact centre in Sheffield, following the tough route of stage three of the 2017 Tour de Yorkshire, to raise funds for Cancer Research UK & Bradford Central Foodbank.

Says Paul: “It is important to take part in charity fundraising events at work because the company has a tradition of being a key part of the local community, so helping local charities is a big part of that relationship.

“It is also fun to take on challenges with colleagues."

Last November 13 employees conquered Snowdon to raise cash for the two charities, for which they have raised more than £5,000.

Employee Katie Baxter adds: “It’s really important for businesses to give back to local communities where possible. We’re lucky to be fit and have our health, so it’s great to be able to do something for others and to have the company support us in our fundraising too.”

Yorkshire Building Society (YBS) aims to inspire people to make a difference by getting involved in community, charity and volunteering activities. The society recently released its first annual review of its corporate responsibility performance. Highlights include a record number of staff volunteering hours, with over 26,000 being donated to projects and charities in local communities across the UK last year.

The society also raised £1.15 million for Marie Curie, funding over 57,500 hours of nursing care for terminally ill people in a partnership that ended last December.

The society’s volunteering scheme allows every colleague up to 31 hours paid leave every year to help out at a charity or good cause of their choice.

Says YBS chief executive Mike Regnier: “In recent years we have made significant progress on our corporate responsibility ambitions in many areas but we will not rest on our laurels as we know we can achieve more. That’s why we have developed a new corporate responsibility strategy, which we call Society Matters.”

This year YBS launched a three-year charity partnership with End Youth Homelessness, a national movement to end homelessness among 16 to 25 year-olds in the UK. The society aims to raise £750,000.

Local charities also benefit - the Down Syndrome Training & Support Service recently received £500 after being nominated by Bingley branch.

Recently Chief Executive, Mike Regnier and his board volunteered at Inn Churches in Bradford, sorting out food donations and helping to create a decked area for the cafe.

Louise Neill, Community Manager for volunteering at YBS, said: “We have seen that time can be just as valuable a gift as money to charities and community groups.”

Yorkshire Water has a 36-year partnership with the international charity WaterAid, to fund access to safe, clean water for Third World communities. It aims to raise £1million by 2020, having so far raised £731,000 through a range of employee events and customer fundraising initiatives. Staff also travel to affected communities to help in person.

Anne Reed, Yorkshire Water’s Lead Adviser in corporate social responsibility says: “Over the past year, our programme has involved 842 colleagues and almost 2,000 hours of volunteer time.”

This year 52 employees from Santander’s Bradford office walked the full 84 miles of Hadrian’s Wall to raise £8,200 for the bank's charity partners Age UK and Barnardo’s.

The event, part of the bank’s ‘We Are Santander’ fortnight, was in addition to two ‘It’s a Knockout’ style competitions, a 750km bike ride from Newcastle to Bootle and a 425km bike ride from The North Sea to The Bristol Channel, as well as a number of fundraising activities in branches across the UK.

Julia Bentley, Operational and Accounting Manager at Santander UK, comments: “We’ve had a great time raising money and awareness for Santander’s charity partners. It was a tough but enjoyable walk, and we hope this will only encourage people to donate more to these two great causes.”