CLAPHAM based charity Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust and Leeds Building Society won the best environmental partnership accolade in the Third Sector Business Charity Awards.

The partnership, which began in 2021, was hailed as having the biggest environmental impact out of all the nominees.

The judges of the awards, which is held annually to celebrate the synergy between business and charity sectors, called the partnership “a standout nominee for the best environmental impact partnership due to its multifaceted approach to addressing pressing environmental challenges while fostering community engagement and wellbeing."

Last year was the most successful of the partnership to date and saw the organisations work together to on projects that addressed the climate and biodiversity crises.

The building society planted a tree for every new children’s savings account opened between January and July last year, resulting in 8,748 trees being planted in the Dales and surrounding areas.

In the second half of 2023 efforts switched to restoring a hectare of rich wildflower meadow, bringing it back from the brink of extinction and helping to create a biodiverse habitat.

Over 100 Leeds Building Society staff volunteered their time, planting and maintaining trees in the Dales. Their hard work, which included the planting of 2,500 trees, helped capture 3.75 tonnes of CO2 per volunteer in 2023 – the equivalent of 20,000 travel miles from a family sized car.

Richard Hore, development officer at YDMT, said: “We’re so proud of this award and thrilled that our partnership with Leeds Building Society has been recognised as being industry-leading. It has been a pleasure working with the responsible business team at LBS to ensure our partnership is delivering maximum impact for our beneficiaries.

“Staff engagement has been key to the partnership’s growth and really bought the partnership to life. We’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone at LBS for their commitment to supporting people, landscape and wildlife of the Dales and hope the success of this partnership will inspire other businesses to think about how they can deliver positive social and environmental impacts in their local area.”

Wendy Carter, the building society's responsible business lead, added: “We began working with the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust in 2021, planting trees for every new children’s savings account opened and on behalf of every one of our colleagues each year. We’ve now planted over 15,000 trees in the Yorkshire Dales, offsetting an estimated 2,500 tonnes of carbon over the next 50 years.”

“We’re incredibly proud of our partnership with YDMT, what it has achieved, and of being recognised by the Third Sector Business Awards as the Best Environmental Impact Partnership. Supporting our communities and looking after the planet are two things we’re passionate about, and our partnership ensures members and colleagues can support a stable financial and environmental future for generations to come.”

Businesses who would like to discuss working with YDMT to deliver positive social and environmental impacts for people and planet, should contact richard.hore@ydmt.org