Five charities in East Lancashire have been given a huge cash boost thanks to donations totalling £30,000 from Skipton Building Society colleague award winners.

Skipton recently named 12 winners in its colleague STAR awards, which recognise teams and colleagues who have gone above and beyond. In addition to their award, each winner was given a share of a £100,000 pot to donate to a charity of their choosing.

The charities to benefit from the donations range from cancer support groups, to a dog-rehoming charity, to palliative care hospices.

East Lancashire Down Syndrome Support Group in Rossendale has been given £5,000 by compliance monitoring consultant James Robinson, while financial advice trainer Stephen Wiggins chose Barnoldswick and Earby Bosom Friends as the recipient of his donation.

Financial crime officer Alix McGuinness selected Pendle Dogs to receive her £5,000 donation, while software engineering leader Ben Butterfield chose to donate his to the East Lancashire Hospice in Blackburn.

Cat Brown – a marketing specialist at Skipton – had £10,000 to donate, choosing Colne-based Wil’s Wishes as the beneficiary, a charity she and her mum set up to raise awareness of bowel cancer following the death of her twin brother in 2015, aged just 24.

Stacey Dickens, head of ESG at the mutual, said: “More than 300 Skipton colleagues were nominated for this year’s STAR Awards. That’s 300 individuals who went so far above and beyond that their peers felt moved to nominate them. It’s absolutely astounding.

“Every single one of the nominees deserves special recognition, but there could only be a handful of winners. Choosing them was a difficult task for our panel of judges, but huge congratulations go out to the colleagues who were chosen. A fantastic range of charities will benefit from the donations, and we know that the money will have a massive impact.”