41Kg of emergency food were collected by staff in 1 week following an urgent appeal by the Braintree area food bank.
Staff from Holmes & Hills Solicitors’ 5 offices in Braintree, Coggeshall, Halstead, Sudbury and Tiptree have donated the food to the Braintree area Foodbank.
Items included tinned vegetables and fruit, beans, soups, spaghetti and rice.
Louisa Jones, a legal secretary at Holmes & Hills Solicitors in Braintree started a small food donation campaign in the office after reading about the Foodbank’s recent urgent appeal in the Braintree & Witham Times. She was surprised by the generosity of her colleagues.
“I am pleased (and shocked) that my small appeal turned out like this. Everyone was very supportive and bought food back from supermarkets when they returned from lunch breaks. Some of the Partners who were too busy to go shopping donated cash.”
The food will be handed out to people in urgent need. Braintree Area Foodbank Director Vivian Salter has thanked Holmes & Hills for the donation, she said:
“In the year to 31st March, 2017 the Braintree Foodbank fed 2,798 people (including 1,077 children), giving out just under 30 tonnes of food. So far, since 1st April we have fed 779 people (including 298 children) - we always see more people over the winter months when clients struggle with the choice of heating their homes or eating.
Although all food is donated, it costs us between £30-£40,000 each year to operate. We have only one part-time employee and everyone else volunteers - we currently have 196 volunteers across our four centres (2 in Braintree, 1 in Halstead and 1 in Witham), our warehouse and our transport team.
Donations of food are vital to us and without you we could not run our foodbank. Your donation today will make a real difference to those in food poverty and we appreciate all that you have done.”
Phil Davies, Partner of Holmes & Hills commented:
“We were only too pleased to respond to the local foodbank’s urgent call for more supplies and I’m proud that so many from across our five offices contributed. We live in uncertain economic times and this can increase hardship. I must thank my colleagues Katie Chan and Lousia Jones for raising awareness, rallying everyone across the business and organising the donation.”
1 in 5 people live in poverty in the UK; many families hit crisis and cannot afford food. Rising food and fuel prices, static incomes, high unemployment and changes to benefits are causing many families to struggle to put food on the table but the good news is that you can be part of the solution.
The Braintree Foodbank can be contacted on 01376 330694
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