Skipton Building Society has set up a charitable foundation in a bid to keep carpetbaggers at bay.

It is also reducing the minimum opening balance for many new investment accounts to £2,000.

From now on, new investing members of the society will be required to agree that any potential windfall should the building society convert to a bank be signed over to the Skipton Building Society Charitable Fund.

The decision comes a few weeks before the Society's annual meeting at which members will be urged to support a resolution from the Internet group Carpetbaggers.com who want the Skipton to convert.

The resolution calls on the Skipton's board to consider conversion as an option - which the board is supporting because it is something it already does.

Raising cash for charity is nothing new to the Skipton. The building society expects to raise £1 million through two money-raising efforts for the NSPCC.

One urged savers to donate £25 when they opened an account of less than £5,000 and they are raising money for the charity's Full Stop Appeal through a special Individual Savings Account.

The new foundation, which is registered with the Charity Commission, has a board with a majority of independent trustees which will donate money to charitable causes.

The Skipton will continue to support charities and other worthy causes including donating cash to the foundation.

John Goodfellow, the Skipton's chief executive, said: "We are satisfied that the introduction of a Charitable Assignment Scheme will discourage further activity from carpetbaggers.

"We are now able to concentrate on providing our usual high standards of service, and we warmly welcome new members seeking a rewarding home for their savings.

"We believe that our customers are best served by the society retaining its mutual status and we recognise our responsibilities to our members and to the communities in which our branches operate."

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