YOURS Staff raise £150k for charities

FROM climbing Snowdon to sleeping rough, colleagues from Wales’ largest building society have raised a record amount for three charities over the past year.

Principality Building Society fundraised £150,000 for its three charities of the year – Llamau, a leading homelessness charity in Wales; Cancer Research Wales, supporting research into prevention and early diagnosis of cancer; and, School of Hard Knocks, which uses sport to help disadvantaged communities. Each charity received £50,000.

Thanks to the society’s promise to match every pound raised, up to a cap of £150,000, the overall sum included £67,000 of match-funding.

Colleagues took on a 100-mile walk from Gower to the Principality Stadium, a night trek to Snowdon summit and slept rough for a night at Cardiff City Stadium.

Julie-Ann Haines, customer director at Principality Building Society, said: “I’m immensely proud of the way we continue to support such worthwhile charities and it has been totally inspiring to see colleagues go the extra mile in taking part in events and making very kind donations. I know this money means a huge amount to our charity partners and will make a significant contribution to their activities on the ground all across Wales and to the vulnerable people they help.”

Keen to extend its charitable efforts further and to build even stronger relationships with organisations that make a real difference, Principality Building Society decided to change its charity of the year scheme to support three charities over three years.

The funds donated to each charity will allow them to continue to deliver important services in Wales, with the money enabling School of Hard Knocks Cymru to hire three new permanent staff last year. Principality’s donation to Llamau allows it to target those most vulnerable in hard to reach places in Wales, while Cancer Research Wales rounded off its 50th anniversary last year with a £50,000 donation from the building society.

Principality’s support for the three charities will continue until the end of next year.