The Swansea Building Society has completed a year-long £25,000 anniversary charity fund with a final donation of £3,000 to YMCA Cardiff, the mutual confirmed this week.
A fund to mark a quarter-century at the helm
The fund was established to mark Alun Williams’s 25 years as chief executive of the Swansea-based building society. Over the course of the campaign the society awarded grants to three charities: £20,000 to Faith in Families, £2,000 to Llys Nini, and the concluding £3,000 to YMCA Cardiff.
In announcing the final award, the society underlined that the initiative was intended both to celebrate Williams’s long service and to reflect “the values that have always been at the heart of Swansea Building Society – supporting the communities we serve and helping organisations that make a genuine difference to people’s lives.”
“YMCA Cardiff has an outstanding reputation for providing practical support, opportunities and hope to people facing difficult circumstances,” the statement said.
What the donation will support
YMCA Cardiff, which has operated in the Welsh capital for more than 170 years, provides a range of services including accommodation and support for young people experiencing homelessness, wellbeing and education initiatives, training, youth work and community programmes. The charity’s chief executive, Andrew Templeton, thanked Swansea Building Society for the £3,000 donation, saying it would help the organisation continue to deliver vital services that build confidence, independence and brighter futures for young people.
The society described the fund as separate from its ongoing community and charitable programme, which continues alongside its business activities in Swansea and beyond.
- Purpose: To mark 25 years of Alun Williams’s leadership and to support community charities.
- Beneficiaries: Faith in Families, Llys Nini and YMCA Cardiff.
- Amounts awarded: £20,000; £2,000; £3,000 respectively.
Local roots, wider reach
Although the final donation was to a Cardiff-based charity, the fund’s recipients include organisations working across South Wales. Faith in Families offers support across the region, while Llys Nini operates locally. The grants reflect a mixture of local and regional philanthropic priorities from a mutual rooted in Swansea.
Swansea Building Society has been notable among regional financial mutuals for maintaining community-focused programmes alongside its core mortgage and savings business. The society highlighted that the anniversary fund was intended to celebrate not just a corporate milestone but the “values” of the mutual — emphasising practical help for people facing difficult circumstances.
| Charity | Donation |
|---|---|
| Faith in Families | £20,000 |
| Llys Nini | £2,000 |
| YMCA Cardiff | £3,000 |
In a crowded local charity sector, unrestricted and flexible funding like this can be particularly valuable. Smaller organisations often face ongoing running costs and the kinds of wraparound support that are harder to fund through project-specific grants alone. The society’s approach — pooling an anniversary fund to make several awards — has the advantage of directing a single pot where it is needed most.
Speaking on behalf of YMCA Cardiff, its chief executive said the donation would enable the charity to continue providing “vital services for young people and individuals who need them most”. The organisation said the money would help people develop practical skills and confidence, and offer routes to independence.
For residents of Swansea the story is a reminder of the role local financial institutions still play in community funding. While the grants are modest in absolute terms, they form part of a patchwork of support that underpins local services from crisis accommodation to youth work and family support.
As the society returns to its regular charitable programme, it says it will continue to work with community partners to identify where its support can have the greatest impact in Swansea and across South Wales.
