During the visit, the team prepared and sorted groceries intended for distribution to charities, talked to staff and volunteers to get a better understanding of operations and took part in activities to promote the Building Skills for Future programme, which offers tailored support to help people prepare for work.
This includes warehouse and kitchen work experience, Food Hygiene and Manual Handling accreditations, and CV and interview workshops.
The Building Skills for the Future programme has helped over 1,000 participants across the UK, including people in Yorkshire, Merseyside, London, Bristol, Milton Keynes, Edinburgh, and Cardiff. Around 500 colleagues have volunteered with FareShare since the partnership began.
Since it was launched in December 2023, Yorkshire Building Society has raised over £700,000 to fund the programme and it aims to raise over £1m. It also supports an outreach initiative to offer free, face-to-face workshops on job searching and financial wellbeing.
Susan Allen (pictured left), 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.
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“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 (pictured right), chief executive 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.”
