Garden party completes 150th Anniversary celebrations

As it’s 150th Anniversary year draws to a close, Beverley Building Society invited members and guests to a garden party and celebrated the burial of a time capsule. 
The winner of the Society’s Red Box Challenge, Natasha Sharpe from Year 4 at Molescroft Primary School buried the time capsule with the help of Graham Carter, Head of Lending. Natasha included a letter to her future self, as well as items from the Society, members of the public and a letter from Her Majesty The Queen.
Deputy Chief Executive, Janet Bedford said:
“During the event, Mayor of Beverley, Councillor Ann Willis gave us her warm wishes of continued success and our Chairman, Brian Young talked about the history of building societies in general. The Beverley is one of only 44 surviving independent mutuals, out of the 2500 that were in existence 150 years ago. Building societies were established to enable communities to purchase their own homes using locally sourced funding, a model we continue to follow today.  We believe our Society continues to grow from strength to strength, due to support from loyal members, who enjoy value for money financial products along with excellent customer service.”
“We continue to offer products designed to help the local community and have recently launched a First Time Buyers product for customers in the region, helping young people with smaller deposits to get onto the property ladder.”
“We felt it appropriate at the end of our 150th year celebration to look toward the future, by burying a time capsule, to tell the stories of the Society and the community of Beverley, which we feel incredibly proud to belong. Local people have included a variety of items and we hope Natasha will return to the Society in 2067, along with some other people who attended our garden party to see how things have changed in Beverley and the world around us.”
Lesley Wegg, Head of Operations, delivered a heart-rending speech about her ties with the Society’s charity partner Action Duchenne. Following her son, Ashley’s diagnosis of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) which the family received three years ago to the day of the garden party, Lesley is a member of the Board of Action Duchenne, which funds pioneering research for  treatment for the condition which affects 1 in every 3,500 live male births with around 2500 people with DMD in the UK today. Lesley expressed her wish that when the time capsule is uncovered in 50 years’ time, DMD will no longer be life limiting condition.
The Building Society team has raised over £25,000 in the last year with a variety of fundraising events including skydiving, swimming with sharks and the longest standing member of staff with 30 years’ service, Christine Gibbon, will shave her hair off at the charity’s annual ball in October, as fundraising continues.