Suffolk Building Society launches new accounts to support work of Suffolk Wildlife Trust

The first of the two products, Suffolk Young Saver, is a new account for children and young people (the account can be opened by the parent or legal guardian of a child aged between 0 and 15 or a young person aged 16 – 20.) As well as offering the first 200 account holders a half price annual membership of Suffolk Wildlife Trust, savers will also be given a set of Wildlife Top Trumps. The account, which is replacing the Society’s previous two accounts for young people**, is open to those in the Society’s heartland counties***, aged 0-20.

Parental involvement in the account is reduced in stages. A parent or legal guardian will be required to sign for withdrawals while the child is aged between 0-10. From age 11, the child will be required to sign for withdrawals, and the parent or legal guardian will be asked to countersign any withdrawals over £100 until the child reaches age 16. Once the young person turns 16, they have full control of the account and the parent is not required for transactions or any other account administration. There is a minimum opening balance of £10 and a maximum investment of £15,000, with no penalties for withdrawal of funds.

Nature Reserve Regular Saver

The second product, Nature Reserve Regular Saver, is a two-year regular savings product for over 18s. The first 200 account holders will also be entitled to a half price annual membership of Suffolk Wildlife Trust as well as a giveaway of free plantable bee-friendly seeds. Savers can deposit between £10 and £50 per month. There is one penalty-free withdrawal per year and no further withdrawals thereafter until the account matures.

The Suffolk Wildlife Trust membership offer is available to those who are not already a member of Suffolk Wildlife Trust or have been so for less than 12 months. New members can join the Trust on either a monthly or annual direct debit.

Richard Norrington, Chief Executive of Suffolk Building Society said: “We’re really excited to be working with Suffolk Wildlife Trust. It feels like a very natural partnership, with us both being Suffolk-based, member-led organisations, sharing a similar ethos and values. We’re very keen to help the Trust in its mission to support our local environment and promote biodiversity, as well as welcome new account holders. We’re Suffolk through and through and we’re proud to boast active members who want to engage in the community and surrounding area.

“As well as launching two new products we will be running member ‘behind the scenes’ events and volunteering events with the Trust. A benefit that has made Suffolk Building Society so special over the years is its exclusive member-only events which have been hugely popular and, in most cases, well over subscribed.

Nest Box Week

The Society is launching both new products on 14 February during National Nest Box week, a week designed to encourage people to put up more nest boxes in their local area. During the half term week, Suffolk Wildlife Trust is also planning ‘make a nest box’ events.

Christine Luxton, Chief Executive Officer, at Suffolk Wildlife Trust explains why the partnership is so important: “Working with Suffolk Building Society is a great way to mark our 60^th anniversary year. As Suffolk’s nature charity, we own and manage 50 nature reserves throughout the county, all of which are free to visit, and so membership is the backbone of the Trust. We’re lucky to live in a county with such incredible biodiversity, and welcoming new members through our partnership with Suffolk Building Society will play a key role in enabling us to continue to do great work and protect and enhance the natural environment for everyone to enjoy.”

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