Portsmouth society colleague raises over £890 for Fareshare in skydive challenge

A customer consultant from the Portsmouth branch of Yorkshire Building Society has raised over £890 for food redistribution charity, FareShare by taking on a hair-raising skydive from 13,000 feet.

Oliver Ayers took on the challenge to support FareShare, the mutual’s charity partner after colleagues had volunteered at the one of the charity’s local network partners.

FareShare is the UK’s biggest charity fighting hunger and food waste. The charity redistributes quality surplus food from the food industry - that would otherwise go to waste - to over 8,500 local charities across the UK. In addition to providing food, these charities help tackle the root causes of poverty and provide vital services including lunch clubs for older people, community kitchens, breakfast and after school clubs, domestic violence refuges, and homeless shelters.

Yorkshire Building Society has partnered with FareShare until June 2026 to fund an employability programme that aims to help lift people out of financial hardship.

The team at the Portsmouth branch helped raise funds, with in-branch activities and collections. The money raised will go towards a £1million fundraising drive that will fund FareShare’s Building Skills for the Future programme, which will support, equip and prepare over 2,500 people for employment.

Emma Edwards branch manager at the Portsmouth branch of Yorkshire Building Society said: “After colleagues volunteered with FareShare in the region, we heard more about the important work that they do in our community and nationally, this spurred Oliver on to do this challenge.

“We are really proud of the incredibly brave challenge Oliver took and would like to thank everyone that has donated to the cause, including customers that come into the Portsmouth branch, as their generosity will help support FareShare’s Building Skills for the Future programme, which will, in turn, have a huge impact on its participants’ lives.”

Emma Wiffin, Partnerships Manager at FareShare said: “We are delighted that Oliver and his colleagues at the Portsmouth branch of Yorkshire Building Society have raised such an impressive amount to help to fund our Building Skills for the Future employability programmes.

“Our employability programmes support people who may be vulnerable into good, sustainable work, addressing one of the root causes of poverty. The services offered help individuals maximise their strengths, overcome barriers to employment and take advantage of opportunities that can transform lives.

“Our partnership with Yorkshire Building Society makes a vital contribution to our employability programme and will help thousands of people seek long-term employment.”

The partnership between Yorkshire Building Society and FareShare will see the creation of employability programmes in seven of the charity’s 34 regional centres, including London, Bristol, Milton Keynes, Yorkshire, Merseyside and Edinburgh, and Cardiff. The employability programmes will offer coaching, support, practical workshops and work experience to help enable users to secure full-time employment.

In addition, the partnership will fund an outreach programme offering free, face-to-face sessions and workshops helping participants overcome financial hardship by supporting the building of important skills such as CV writing, job searching and improving financial wellbeing. It is hoped that the two programmes will help 2,500 people improve their employability and help them become more financially resilient.

For more information on the partnership between Yorkshire Building Society and FareShare please visit ybs.co.uk/fareshare