The award recognises the support the Society has given to its members, colleagues and communities over the past year.

Thanks to members investing in the Society, Monmouthshire have been supporting local community projects for over 20 years. However, during 2021 their range of community initiatives was extended, at a time when local communities needed them most.

The Society have developed a number of initiatives supporting local communities, including their Branch Sponsorship fund which provides sponsorship to local grassroots organisations through their high street branches, and a ‘Colleague in the Community’ initiative which supports colleagues to volunteer their time, knowledge and skills to the groups and causes that mean something to them.

Dawn Gunter, Chief Operating Officer at Monmouthshire Building Society said: “As a modern, mutual Society, we embrace our responsibility to address some of the social, economic and environmental challenges our members, communities and colleagues face and we’re proud to have been able to support our communities throughout the pandemic through our ever-growing community initiatives.

“Supporting our communities is part of our core purpose, so receiving external recognition like this is testament to the increased effort of all of our colleagues at the Society.”

This year, the Society’s community initiatives have included:

• Donating over £22,000 to 26 charities through the Charitable Foundation • Our colleagues donating 317 hours of their time to support charities through the Society’s ‘Colleague in the Community’ volunteering initiative • £6000 donated to grassroots community groups, projects and programmes that benefit our local communities through our Branch Sponsorship scheme • Continued support of our Charity Partner, Shelter Cymru through regular fundraising initiatives • Keeping in touch with our most vulnerable members during the pandemic through our In Touch initiative • The launch of our colleague-led Social Responsibility Panel to support local initiatives and identify opportunities for change which have a positive impact on the environment and local communities

Charities, community groups and grassroots organisations are invited to apply for funding or support by visiting monbs.com/community or dropping into their local Monmouthshire Building Society branch.