Financial services workers volunteer with Swindon Food Collective

OneFamily employees volunteered with Swindon Food Collective (SFC) to help vulnerable people in the local community in the run-up to winter.

Several colleagues from the financial services firm  spent a day in the Swindon Food Collective warehouse, sorting and packaging food. 

The financial services company awarded the SFC £5,000 in February and has been keen to offer hands-on support to the charity.

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

Donations are collected from individuals, shops, churches and businesses. These are taken to SFC’s warehouse, where they are sorted and packed into emergency food parcels, ready to be delivered to their 11 distribution centres, which are open five days a week. 

Kathryn Grobler, Outbound Sales Manager at OneFamily, was one of the volunteers. She said, “Volunteering in the warehouse was so rewarding as each package helps someone put food on the table. 

"It feels great to be part of something that supports so many people in our local community have hot meals in the coming cold winter months.”

In the last 12 months the Swindon Food Collective has distributed over 122 tonnes of stock, which includes food, toiletries and household cleaning products, to 10,891 people. This means around 98,000 meals have been provided. 

However, the level of donations coming in has not kept pace with the increased demand for help, so the charity has been spending up to £3,000 a month on stock for their food parcels. This expenditure has been supported through grants and financial donations, without which SFC would not be able to support as many vulnerable locals.

Cher Smith MBE, Manager of the Swindon Food Collective, said: "The support and effort that OneFamily gave when they joined us for the day was immense. 

"During harvest we get many donations from schools, churches and community groups, all of which need sorting and packing into boxes ready for distribution. 

"The team spent the day undertaking this and several other tasks that help the warehouse run smoothly during this extremely busy period."