Darlington Building Society is proudly sponsoring this year’s Festival of Thrift, helping to support the financial futures of festival-goers in these uncertain times.

The building society will have a stall at the festival for people to stop by and chat, with free children’s activities on offer throughout the weekend.

Visitors can also book onto Darlington Building Society workshops, designed to teach people how to budget better, and plan their financial futures in partnership with Wren Sterling.

Over at the main tent, children can go on a magical history ride with Darly the train as Peter Barron holds an interactive book reading, complete with costumes! Darly is the main character of Darlington Building Society’s very own book, and mascot for its namesake children’s savings account.

Louise Thorpe, Distribution Director at Darlington Building Society said: “We are proud to support this year’s Festival of Thrift, helping to share the sustainability message. Times are hard, and we expect them to get tougher as the cost of living crisis deepens. We want to help support our local community in making every penny count, and will be holding a number of workshops across the weekend to help people budget better and plan their financial futures. Having even a small financial buffer significantly improves mental wellbeing, so we want to help people to save when they can and make their money work as hard as possible – both in terms of interest and in doing good for the local community.

“We’ll also have a stall for festival goers to pop by for a chat about starting, or taking their next step on, their saving journey. Children will also find lots of fun activities to do, including a Kindle competition and the chance to paint our limited edition beloved ‘Darly’ train moneyboxes.”

Emma Whitenstall, Executive Director of Festival of Thrift said: “It’s wonderful to welcome Darlington Building Society as a Festival of Thrift partner. Their community-focused ethos as a mutual building society is a perfect match for us as a community interest company.

“We love the thrifty spirit of the financial and budgeting workshops being led by Darlington Building Society experts at the festival, which are incredibly timely as we face the realities of the cost-of-living crisis.

“Their generous support of our volunteers programme will also cover food and travel costs so that all members of the community can get involved with the festival no matter what their circumstances are.

“We are hugely excited about our partnership and hope that this is the start of a long-term relationship as the festival grows across the Tees Valley.”