A Swindon business has donated £5,000 to a local food bank and has pledged to offer its employees as volunteers.

OneFamily, which has a base in the town, has announced support for the Swindon Food Collective to helps the most vulnerable people in the local community.

SFC helps people living in Swindon and the surrounding area who are suffering from financial hardship and finding it difficult to provide food for themselves, their family or dependants. 

The financial services company has awarded the SFC £5,000 and will also be offering hands-on help through employee volunteering and the sharing of skills, networks, and experience.

Teddy Nyahasha, the CEO of OneFamily, said: “The cost-of-living crisis has led to a rapid growth in the call on food banks and it’s devastating to see the impact of rising costs on the wellbeing of families with young children, the vulnerable and the infirm.

“Helping local people is very important to us as it’s been our focus for many years, so we’re pleased to support the SFC and its vital work.

“We’re keen to build our relationship with SFC because, for us, it’s not just about handing money over and believing the job is done.  We’ll be investing time, practical support, and advice that we hope will have a real impact on the lives of local people.

Donations are collected from individuals, stores, churches, and businesses and are taken to SFC’s warehouse, where they are sorted and packed into emergency food parcels ready for delivering to their eleven distribution centres that are open five days a week.

In 2022 the SFC fed 9,602 people of which 2,279 were young children, giving out more than 115 tonnes of food.

It also supplied Great Western Hospital with 188 Home From Hospital bags and supported 34 breakfast clubs.

Helen Gerrish, the chairperson of SFC, said: “The donation from OneFamily is much appreciated and will go towards enabling the Swindon Food Collective to meet the ever-increasing demand for food for those people who are facing a crisis at this time.

“Our mission is to reduce the impact of food poverty on people in the Swindon and District area and our aim is that no-one goes hungry unnecessarily.

"With this support we will rise to this challenge and work positively to help as many people as we can."