Giving back while saving: How building societies make a difference
April 2025
Giving back while saving: How building societies make a difference
April 2025
At Coventry Building Society, we have over 140 years experience and we’re really proud that from the little to the life-changing, we make it all add up for our savings and mortgage customers. We’ve always believed in going that extra mile when it comes to managing your money and we’re not just focused on the present – we also look to the future.
Read on to find out how saving with us can contribute to real change, by backing local initiatives and supporting our commitment to the environment.
Supporting the community
We care about making life better, not only for our members and our employees, but also the community in which they live and work. Partnering with schools and charities in our home city and beyond, we offer support and create positive change for those who need it most.
In 2023, we started our partnership with Centrepoint, the UK’s leading youth homelessness charity. This collaboration reflects our dedication to social responsibility and supporting those in need. Through our donations, we’ve helped fund the Centrepoint Helpline, providing specialist guidance for young people across the UK who are homeless or worried about housing, alongside training and employment opportunities. Find out more about our Centrepoint partnership
We also invest in our communities through various initiatives to make positive ripples of change. Our Young Writer competition helps to nurture local talent. In 2024, we received over 1,100 entries from talented young writers from schools across Coventry. In addition to this our Coventry Counts programme helps primary aged children develop vital literacy and numeracy skills, while at secondary level, we’re giving young people the confidence to succeed in the world of work.
Did you know, building societies today account for 30% of high street branches?1 We remain focused on helping our communities with our network of over 60 branches. We also work closely with organisations like the Building Society Association, to champion the role of building societies and the importance of building financial resilience.
Environmental commitment
Our environmental ambitions continue to be a big area of focus for us. As a B Corp Certified building society, we’re part of a global community of businesses that are doing things differently to meet high standards of social and environmental impact.
Since 2021, we’ve also been committed to the UN Global Compact corporate responsibility and its principles in the areas of human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption. We’ve identified four of the UN Sustainable Development Goals Sustainability to prioritise, reinforcing our loyalty to fostering both community and environmental wellbeing.
Looking to the future, our ambition is to be net zero by 2040. And our commitment is to make a positive contribution towards climate change and reducing the environmental impact of our business activities. This includes our commitment to send zero waste to landfill – which we’ve done since 2017 – and reducing the energy we use to power our branches, offices and technology.
As a mutual building society, we look after our savers and borrowers
Since we were founded in 1884, giving you long-term value has been one of our most important measures of success. Whether you’re a saver or a borrower, our aim is to help you be better off through life. You tell us very clearly what you want – great value, outstanding service, financial resilience and security you can trust - in addition to providing unwavering support for you, your families and communities.
So whether it’s our dedication to helping you achieve your financial goals, supporting local talent or championing sustainability, we’re committed to a future that’s all together, better.
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