An elephant named Roscoe helped Darlington Building Society’s Northallerton branch raise more than £160 for the Chernobyl Children charity.
This year marks 30 years since the Chernobyl disaster that devastated the Ukrainian city of Pripyat and contaminated southern Belarus for centuries to come.
The branch raised £163.49, through a ‘name the elephant’ challenge, that will be donated to the charity, which supports Belarussian children who have been affected by the disaster.
To celebrate its 160th anniversary, Darlington Building Society is aiming to help raise £160,000 for local causes through a variety of activities and events that we will be running throughout the year. The Society will also give 160 volunteering days to help local charities and community groups by using our time and skills.
Finally, it aims to help 160 local organisations by using its resources to support them, whether that means a local business or charity using the branches to raise awareness of their activities or its van to help take things from A to B and everything in between.
Sarah Jefferson, Customer Service Consultant at Darlington Building Society’s Northallerton branch, said: “The Chernobyl Children charity still helps so many children and families that are affected by the disaster, even 30 years on. All the staff at the Northallerton branch were honoured to support such a worthy and fantastic cause”.
“The guess the name fundraiser was not only a great way of raising money for the charity, but also a bit of fun for our members. I must thank all of our members – without their generosity none of this would be possible.”
Alison Shepherd from Friends of Chernobyl Children, said: “I cannot thank Darlington Building Society enough for its hard work in fundraising. It will make such a difference to our funds and help the many Chernobyl victims who are still suffering today.”