Pictured above: (l-r) Martin Palmer (senior partner at Yorkshire Bank), Judy Driver (chair of the Home-Start South Leicestershire charity) and Karen Hulett (Scheme Manager at Home-Start South Leicestershire)

A Leicestershire charity which supports families with young children has completed a major extension thanks to the auction of rare bank notes by Yorkshire Bank.

Home-Start South Leicestershire is a voluntary organisation that supports families in the Harborough district area by providing friendship and advice through support groups, home visits from trained volunteers and organising outings and Christmas parties. 

Yorkshire Bank has donated £850 to the Market Harborough-based charity following two auctions of over 300 historic and collectable banknotes.

Karen Hulett, Scheme Manager of Home-Start South Leicestershire, said the donation had put the finishing touches to its brand new extension at its headquarters in Coventry Road, providing vital facilities to the charity and the families they support.

"Individual donations and successful applications to charitable trusts and funds meant we were able to complete the building of the extension and offer increased services," she said.

"This donation from Yorkshire Bank means we have been able to complete the interior and buy furniture, pictures and new toys for the children who visit us.

"Since we were established in 1984 we have helped over 2,000 families who are facing difficulties to help every child in the towns, villages and rural communities in south Leicestershire have a good start in life." 

Rare and limited edition notes went under the hammer at auctions in Glasgow and London - and a world record was set at the Glasgow auction when a Scottish £1 note was sold for £9,000.

The donation to Home-Start was among £11,750 which Yorkshire Bank has shared between local and national charities in the Midlands.

Lynne Peacock, chief executive of Yorkshire Bank, said: "This is traditionally a difficult time for charities so I hope the money Yorkshire Bank is donating will bring some cheer to them, at a time when they need it most.

"Donating £11,750 to local and national charities in the Midlands in the current climate is terrific. We are overjoyed with the amount raised at the auctions and are delighted some of the money will be going to a worthy cause such as Home Start."

The money comes from a larger £180,000 fund, which is being split among charities throughout the UK. Yorkshire Bank's charity partner Help the Hospice, a leading charity which supports hospice care in the UK, will be the main beneficiary with £30,000 being donated to its cause.

This donation supports the good work already undertaken by the Yorkshire and Clydesdale Bank Foundations over the last 12 months, which donated more than £555,000 to various charitable causes.

In addition, to mark 150 years of working with communities, Yorkshire Bank launched a special £150,000 fund to help support charities and community groups. The £150,000 fund will be used to make awards to projects in four categories - environment, volunteering, education and regeneration.