Driving positive change

Since 1872, we’ve been putting our ethics into action, with co-operative values at the very heart of our business. In 1992, we became the first UK bank to launch a customer-led Ethical Policy, giving our customers a say in the decisions we make and how we do business. Together with our partners, we continue to uphold our beliefs, and our customer’s beliefs, in doing the right thing, by driving positive change to make a real difference in our local communities.

Ending youth homelessness with Centrepoint

Centrepoint supports young people who are both homeless and at risk of homelessness across the UK. Whether it’s helping them to re-engage with education and training, acquire important life skills, or find a home of their own, one of the charity’s main aims is to make sure no young person gets left behind.

Since 2017, along with our colleagues and customers, we have raised over £2m to help support Centrepoint’s vision of ending youth homelessness by 2037. From helping to fund the Centrepoint Helpline with our mortgage donations to fundraising and sharing our skills and knowledge, we are committed to changing young people’s lives for the better, especially in our home city of Manchester.

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Centrepoint - give homeless young people a future.

Raising awareness of economic abuse with Refuge

Refuge is committed to supporting women and children who experience domestic abuse, empowering them to rebuild their lives. Working in partnership with the charity, we’ve been able to raise the profile of economic abuse; helping people to spot the signs and showing them how they can access vital support.

In 2015, we launched our joint ‘My money, my life’ campaign, where our report into economic abuse led to the establishment of an industry-wide Financial Abuse Code of Practice in 2018. Following on from this, in 2020 we launched our ‘Know economic abuse’ campaign. This focused on developing a five-point plan of action to increase the support available, and to help prevent economic abuse from happening.

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Refuge - for women and children. Against domestic violence.

Standing up for human rights with Amnesty International UK

As the world’s largest grassroots human rights organisation, Amnesty International UK fights for people facing injustice and inequality across the globe. We’ve worked with Amnesty International UK since the launch of our customer-led Ethical Policy in 1992, as we know both our customers and colleagues care about supporting and defending human rights.

From supporting their Rise Up programme to develop the next generation of human rights activists, to using our voice to transform lives through Write for Rights, we will continue to take a stand alongside Amnesty International UK to fight for human rights and equality for all.

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Amnesty International logo

Tackling the climate-nature crisis by backing the Climate and Ecology Bill

This Bill would provide bold legislation that addresses the full extent of the climate and nature crisis. It strengthens our need to cut emissions, protect biodiversity and reverse nature loss by 2030.

We’ve always been passionate about protecting the environment, and are committed to doing our bit to drive the action our planet needs. That’s why we’re proud to be a Zero Hour Ambassador; backing the Climate and Ecology Bill and standing united for nature. It’s also why we’re encouraging our customers to drive positive environmental change by backing the Bill too. The climate-nature emergency isn’t going to stop any time soon, so neither will we.

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Zero Hour! logo

Helping co-operatives thrive in partnership with Co-operatives UK

As a bank built on co-operative values, we believe in the power of co-operation. This is why we support the UK’s co-operative sector by offering them free business banking. We’re also proud sponsors of Co-op Congress and the Co-op of the Year Awards, bringing together like-minded organisations to make a real difference in their community.

Since 2016, we’ve committed £2.5 million to support co-operatives nationally. And we’re proud to continue funding our Business Support for Co-ops offering through our partnership with Co-operatives UK, giving co-operative businesses from all sectors of the economy access to the expert advice and guidance they need to thrive.

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Co-operatives UK logo

Celebrating inclusion and diversity with Manchester Pride

Manchester Pride is one of the UK’s leading LGBTQ+ charities. They campaign for equality for all, celebrate LGBTQ+ life, and create opportunities that engage LGBTQ+ people in Greater Manchester to help them thrive.

As an inclusive employer, we promote equality of opportunity and aim to create a workforce that’s representative of our society. Ultimately, we want inclusion and diversity to be at the heart of our working culture.

We’re proud to have supported Manchester Pride for over five years now, in partnership with our colleague network, Proud Together. This volunteer organisation represents LGBTQ+ colleagues from across the Bank, offering information and support.

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Manchester Pride logo

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