The North East’s biggest building society has extended its commitment to supporting its communities by appointing Donna Stubbs as Community Manager.
Donna has joined Newcastle Building Society in a newly-created role which will lead delivery across a range of community initiatives, working with colleagues and local groups to help generate positive change across the region.
Newcastle Building Society made a £1.5m community commitment in 2020 to help the region manage and recover from the impact of Covid-19, and is continuing to invest significantly in supporting a wide range of grassroots and charitable initiatives.
Donna, who was born and lives in North Tyneside, brings extensive experience to her new role, having worked as part of senior leadership teams in the poverty, health and social care, housing, sport and youth sectors.
A Newcastle University graduate, she has moved to the Society from national sporting and young people’s charity StreetGames, where she coordinated a range of activities with over 150 partner organisations across the North East, and has also worked for organisations including the Alzheimer’s Society and Home Group.
One of Donna’s first tasks in her new role was to pick up her phone and volunteer to help someone in need.
All Society colleagues are encouraged to use the onHand smartphone app to connect them with people in the region who need support with important tasks such as prescription collections and companionship calls. Donna’s first mission was one of more than 500 completed by Society colleagues over the last nine months.
Donna Stubbs says: "Getting stuck into a volunteering mission straight away was great fun and gave me immediate insight into how onHand works and the impact that a little bit of time, effort and kindness has on the people that so many of my new colleagues support.
"Newcastle Building Society is already making a terrific difference to the lives of hundreds of people across the region, but working with our partners I know we can do even more.
"The Society and this role offers everything I’m passionate about and I’m really excited about all the opportunities to engage with people right across our region and help colleagues make new and stronger connections with their communities, ultimately helping to make a real difference to people’s lives."
Newcastle Building Society made a £1.5m community commitment in 2020 to help the region manage and recover from the impact of Covid-19, and is continuing to invest significantly in supporting a wide range of grassroots and charitable initiatives.
Stuart Miller, Customer Director at Newcastle Building Society, adds: "Having a positive impact on our communities is absolutely central to our Purpose as a mutual organisation and the importance of this has never been clearer than it has been over the last year.
"We’re always looking for ways in which we can enhance what we do and dedicating this additional resource to strengthening our community impact has the potential to make a real difference to what we can achieve.
"Donna has both the character and the credentials to make a huge impact in this role and we’re extremely pleased to welcome her to the Society."