the Leeds Building Society has raised £7,000 for three charities.

The Leeds’ harvest festival themed day raised over £1,000 through a dress down day, quiz and via the sale of raffle tickets and cake.

The event had an underlying aim to raise money for the fund set up by the Society’s Heads of’ Department to support the three charities they have adopted this year. These charities are St Gemma’s Hospice and Martin House Children’s Hospice in Leeds, and the Great Northern Children’s Hospital in Newcastle. The target is to raise £10,000 for these three charities in 2009 and the total now stands at £7,000.

Activities for the Harvest Festival themed day included a cake baking competition, strangest shaped vegetable competition, tombola, quiz, guess the weight of the hamper and sale of books, CD’s and DVD’s. The ‘Heads Of’ Department also used the event to collect unwanted items and jewellery from staff to help raise stock for the charities to sell in local shops. To round off the event a drinks reception was held in the sky lounge for staff.

Trevor Garside , head of Leeds Financial Services, said: “The success of the Harvest Festival themed fundraising day far surpassed our expectations. Everyone joined in the spirit of the event. The Senior Management Team rounded off the day nicely with a drinks evening. The support of the staff is invaluable for those charities that have seen their fundraising amounts decline over the last year or two.