£3,436 boost for foodbank
Energy hub staff donate cash after customers complete online top-up
AN ENERGY company hub in Gosport has donated more than £3,000 to a nearby foodbank to support in-need families over Christmas and the start of the New Year.
Staff from Gosport’s Utilita Energy Hub have handed over a cheque for £3,436 to the Fareham and Gosport Basics Bank in Aspect House, Westbury Road.
Pam Elliott, manager at the basics foodbank, said staff and volunteers were ‘absolutely amazed’ by how much money Utilita had raised.
She said: ‘I never thought it would be so much.
‘The support we have received from Utilita has been fantastic and will help us to feed the people in the community who are really struggling.’
Over the past 12 months, the basics bank has dealt with some 2,500 referrals for people who find themselves facing a crisis and don’t have enough money to buy food, as well as providing parcels to last seven days for around 5,000 people.
Foodbank workers have been warning for months that many struggling families face a difficult Christmas period, with rising energy, petrol and food prices coming at a time when Universal Credit is being reduced and the furlough scheme becomes a distant memory.
The donation comes from a nationwide initiative where Utilita Energy donated a penny every time one of its 830,000 customers completed an online top-up from November 15 to December 15.
Each penny was added to a central fund, which has been divided between each of Utilita’s nine energy hubs located across the UK.
Robert Tait, retail manager at the Utilita Energy Hub in Gosport High Street, said: ‘Seeing the work the team at the Gosport Basics Foodbank does, we know they will make every penny of this important donation go as far as it can, impacting the lives of hundreds of households who need to know that people care.
‘It’s our absolute pleasure to know that Utilita Energy and its wonderful customers are making lives that little bit easier for those who need help the most.’