BRADFORD based Yorkshire Building Society has been honoured for its extensive charity work at an awards ceremony.

The building society, based off Rooley Lane, took the top prize in the Corporate Social Responsibility Team of the Year category at this year’s Third Sector Business Charity Awards.

The awards recognise the outstanding contributions made by UK businesses to charity, community projects and good causes.

Yorkshire Building Society picked up the award for its Society Matters strategy, which focuses on three key priority areas to make a difference to local communities.

The three areas are; educational programmes to improve financial literacy, life-changing support for people in challenging situations, and engaging local communities.

Pauline Giroux, corporate responsibility manager at Yorkshire Building Society, said: “As a mutual organisation owned by our members we’re committed to creating a lasting, positive impact on society, because we believe society matters.

“Through our corporate responsibility programme we are supporting our customers, colleagues, local communities and the environment.

“It was an honour to be able to collect the award on behalf of everyone at Yorkshire Building Society and it is fantastic recognition of the good work that our colleagues do across the country delivering on our Society Matters strategy.”

Last year, YBS delivered its Money Minds financial literacy programme to more than 7,200 schoolchildren across the district and in Yorkshire.

The sessions consisted of activities and projects to help children learn about money, from budgeting skills and keeping money safe for younger children to working out interest and responsibilities for teenagers.

The group have helped out the local community, from volunteering to create a garden at Marie Curie Hospice to working for local charities and clearing a path for walkers and creating wildlife habitats.

It is also involved in a three-year charity partnership with End Youth Homelessness, aiming to help 700 homeless young people move out of supported accommodation and into their own homes.

Staff and customers have so far raised more than £358,000 for the charity, and hundreds of thousands of pounds more for other charities.

In 2017 YBS staff gave up 22,641 hours to volunteer for 364 different charities.