‘Design your own chocolate coin’ competition to mark The Cambridge Building Society’s 175 years

Children are being encouraged to use their imagination to design a commemorative chocolate coin to mark The Cambridge Building Society’s 175th anniversary.

The Cambridge has partnered with The Royal Mint, the makers of British coins, for the competition – the winner of which will see their design made into a chocolate coin that will be available in the building society’s branches, as well as £175 put into a new or existing savings account.

The school of the winning designer will also receive up to £1,000 towards a numeracy project and a visit from The Royal Mint Museum in the 2025-26 academic year.

The entries will be judged by The Cambridge CEO Peter Burrows, a representative from the Royal Mint and Cambridge Independent editor Paul Brackley.

Carole Charter, chief commercial officer at The Cambridge, said: “Coins have marked significant moments throughout history, and now children have the opportunity to create a special chocolate coin to celebrate our big birthday!

“We wanted to do something fun and educational with our young members and local schools to help celebrate our anniversary.

“We can’t wait to see the amazing designs children come up with to tell our story of helping people save and have a home for 175 years.”

As part of the competition, launched on Monday (28 April), The Cambridge will visit schools to talk about the benefits of saving money and the history of building societies – with the society movement also marking its 250th anniversary this year.

Lee Jones, product design lead at The Royal Mint and one of the judges, said: “I am very excited to be part of this project and see what ideas the young people have.”

The design competition is open to children aged 13 or under who live within a 15-mile radius of any branch or store.

Children aged 13 or under who are members of The Cambridge, or have parents, guardians or grandparents who are members, can also enter.

To take part, pick up an entry pack from any branch, or download the competition pack from cambridgebs.co.uk/coincomp.

Entries can be returned to any branch, head office or by emailing coincomp@cambridgebs.co.uk with a photograph by 22 June.

To mark its anniversary, The Cambridge has pledged to donate £175,000 to good causes, expanded its Rent to Home scheme, will host a community conference in the summer, and hold celebrations in branches throughout the year.