Building Bradford Skills Fund

The Charitable Foundation's Building Bradford Skills Fund will consider any project providing employability support to increase job prospects in Bradford, providing between £100,000 and £500,000 for a funding period of up to three years.

Small Change Big Difference® Fund

The Charitable Foundation’s Small Change Big Difference®Fund makes donations of up to £2,500 to UK registered charities, nominated by the Society’s members and colleagues. 

Building Bradford Skills Fund

The Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation has launched the  Building Bradford Skills Fund which will see £1million invested in charities delivering employability skills, training and services in the Bradford District between 2025-2028.

All interested charities are encouraged to read Building Bradford Skills Fund Charity Guidance which includes the full eligibility criteria and useful information to support an application.

What the Fund will support

  • The Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation will consider any project providing employability support to increase job prospects in Bradford.
  • All projects must be delivered within the following Wards of Bradford; Bowling & Barkerend, Bradford Moor, City, Clayton & Fairweather Green, Eccleshill, Great Horton, Little Horton, Manningham, Royds, Tong and Wibsey.
  • Applicants can apply for between £100,000 and £500,000, for a funding period of up to three years.
  • Applications will only be considered from charities registered with The Charity Commission, that have submitted their annual returns on time.
  • The funding is open to all registered charities that meet the criteria, including those who have previously received funding from the Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation.

Apply for funding

  • Applications are open and the Foundation’s Trustees are encouraging interested charities to confirm eligibility by submitting an expression of interest form. 
  • Suitable charities will then be invited to complete a full application, which must be completed by 29 September 2024. C

Contact us

If you have any questions about your funding application, please email community@ybs.co.uk

Read the Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation’s Privacy Notice to learn how we process your data when you apply for funding.

Small Change Big Difference® Fund

Through the Small Change Big Difference® Fund, trustees consider nominations to charities that support its two priority areas: alleviating poverty and improving health / saving lives. It particularly welcomes nominations of charities that are working in areas of deprivation, and charities that have an income turnover of less than £100,000.

Please read the full guidance notes here prior to making an application.

To be considered for a donation the charity must meet the following basic eligibility criteria:

  • Registered with the Charity Commission, the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland or the Scottish Charity Regulator
  • Funding will either help alleviate poverty, improve health or save lives
  • Nominated by a Yorkshire Building Society member or colleague
  • Beneficiaries in the UK
  • Have not received a YBS Charitable Foundation donation in the last 2 years
  • Annual returns submitted to the Charity Commission, the Charity Commission for Northern Ireland or the Scottish Charity Regulator

The following will NOT be considered:
 

  • Applications that do not fit the criteria outlined in the guidelines
  • Charities serving a specific sector of the community selected on the basis of political or religious grounds/ advancement
  • Animal welfare charities
  • Charities with beneficiaries not in the UK
  • Community Interest Companies, community or voluntary organisations that are not registered charities

How do I make a nomination?

Applications for the Small Change Big Difference® Fund are currently being accepted from members and colleagues of the Society and you can nominate a charity here.


All applications are reviewed on a quarterly basis by our trustees.

The trustees decide which applications to approve based on which charities are the strongest fit for the Foundation’s guidelines and how much funds are available. Once trustees have reviewed all applications, we will inform the colleague or member and the charities of their decision. Donations are sent directly to successful charities at the end of each quarter via our charity payment partner, Charities Trust.

The deadlines for applications are: 31 March, 30 June, 30 September and 31 December annually.

How is the Foundation funded?

Building Bradford Skills Fund

Yorkshire Building Society (YBS) funds the Building Bradford Skills Fund, alongside additional funding which covers the day-to-day running costs of the Fund. 

Small Change Big Difference® Fund

The Society’s members and colleagues fund the Charitable Foundation’s Small Change Big Difference® (SCBD) Fund through the Society’s SCBD® scheme.

As a member, you can opt-in to donate the annual pence of interest from your accounts, no more than 99p per year, to the Charitable Foundation. Every penny received helps us to support local charities!

You can sign up by clicking the button below or by visiting your local branch.
Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation is committed to transparency and we work with 360Giving to publish information about our grants. Using the 360Giving Data Standard, our awarded grants since 2021 are available as an Excel spreadsheet. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. This means the data is freely accessible to anyone to be used and shared as they wish. The data must be attributed to Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation.