Yorkshire Building Society is to raise funds this year for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), the charity that saves lives at sea.

Staff members within the Yorkshire Building Society Group will be carrying out a wide variety of fundraising activities for the charity throughout the year to make one large donation to the RNLI at the end of 2012.

The Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation, which is the focal point for all the Society’s charitable giving will also be making a significant contribution to the total raised.

The RNLI was chosen as the the group’s Charity of the Year through a member vote. In 2011 Yorkshire Building Society staff managed to raise £175,000 for the 2011 Charity of the Year, Alzheimer’s Society – the largest amount raised by staff in the Society’s history.

All funds raised by the Society’s staff and through the support of customers and members of the public will be used by the RNLI to train more of its vital volunteer lifeboat crew and lifeguards.

Chris Pilling, the Yorkshire Building Society’s new chief executive, said: “I’ve already had the chance to meet some of the RNLI crew and have spent time on a lifeboat seeing just how hard these crews work to keep people safe. I hope that members of the public will get involved and call into a branch and support staff with their fundraising activities to help us raise a record amount.