A BUILDING society has donated over £2,500 pounds to a Chester charity as part of almost £15,000 worth of donations across the Northwest.

Children Today Charitable Trust, a Chester-based national charity which supports disabled children and young people across the UK, received £2,800 of funding from Skipton Building Society. The organisation, which provides help, information and funding for specialised equipment, will use the money to purchase two adapted buggies and two bubble walls.

A further £12,073 was given to other Northwest organisations from Skipton's Charitable Foundation, including Active Hope Limited in Warrington (£2,999), the Crossroads Care Cheshire, Manchester and Merseyside charity (£2,250), Chorley Youth Zone (£1,673.35), NEPHRA Good Neighbours in Manchester (£2,689) and St Ann's Hospice in Cheadle (£2,800).

As the economic climate remains challenging, the fourth largest building society is giving back and has set aside an additional £150,000 for donating to charities this year.

At its September quarterly meeting, the trustees of the Skipton Building Society Charitable Foundation reviewed over 60 funding applications from charities across the UK, awarding just under £100,000 (£95,292.69) to support keeping their vital services running.

Stacey Dickens, Head of Sustainability at Skipton Building Society, said: "As a mutual, we know just how important it is for local communities – including ourselves in the business community – to help each other and give something back. Skipton has been helping people to build better futures since 1853, and one of the ways we continue to do this is through our Charitable Foundation. This year alone we’ve donated just over £18,600 to charities across the North West.

"This round of applications has been an exceptional period for our charitable foundation. Being able to help even more charities is a great privilege and these donations will make a big difference to the charities and all the people they help.

"We know times are particularly tough right now following the Covid-19 pandemic and the cost-of-living challenges and charities are particularly feeling the squeeze. Our donations are just a small acknowledgement to these incredibly worthwhile causes that their efforts can and are making a big difference to the lives of local people."

The Skipton Building Society Charitable Foundation was founded in 2000, donating almost £2.5million to charities across the UK. It considers funding applications four times a year, with the next meeting taking place in December. For full details of the donation criteria and the online application for funding, visit www.skiptoncharitablefoundation.co.uk.