Record year for Society’s charitable donations

Newcastle Building Society has become a proud supporter of the well-loved charity, Samaritans Purse, also known as Operation Christmas Child. Last year over 100,000 of the 1.25 million gift-filled boxes came from the North East. The Society aims raise awareness of the plight and is encouraging its 1000-plus staff to step up to the shoe box challenge.

As the biggest building society based in the North East and one of the strongest mutual building societies in the UK, Newcastle Building Society is committed to supporting charitable projects. Staff have already raised thousands this year for charity, including over £2,000 for Children In Need and £1,400 for Macmillan Cancer Support - an integral part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) strategy launched earlier this year.

Operation Christmas Child gives supporters the opportunity to make their donation personal. Shoe boxes are wrapped in Christmas paper and filled with presents including toys, sweets, educational gifts and hygiene items. They are destined for children between the ages of two and fourteen years, living in some of the poorest and desperate areas of the world.

Gillian Tiplady, head of Corporate Social Responsibility at Newcastle Building Society, said, “Charity events play a big part in our CSR campaign at the Newcastle Building Society. We support many grassroots organisations through our work with the Community Foundation, but also get involved in national causes, such as Operation Christmas Child. Staff are always keen to get involved and show their support and I am positive we will make a considerable contribution to the number of boxes produced in the North East for this worthy cause.”