Recently we asked our clients which local charity we should support over the coming months. We’re thrilled to reveal that the Otley Food Bank came out top, with 60% voting for it!
The charity provides food parcels to the most vulnerable families and individuals in the Otley area. Each parcel contains at least three days of food for any emergency and the right to reapply for food if their situation has not been improved. It’s run by the local community and a charity we’re proud to be supporting in the coming months.
Margaret, a volunteer at the Otley Food Bank, explained it costs around £20 to put each food parcel together. During the Covid-19 pandemic when many families faced financial pressures, deliveries of food parcels increased by a third to and keeping up with demand can be challenging for the charity.
Supporting charitable causes and the local community has always been a core part of our business and a personal passion. We now want to extend the support we offer by focussing on one charity. We aim to raise £1,000 in the next twelve months for the worthy cause. There are two ways we’re going to raise money:
- We have teamed up with local photographers. Any image used on our new website or in our newsletter will be credited accordingly with a £10 donation made to the Otley Food Bank.
- We will also donate £50 for every recommendation you make to friends, family or work colleagues. We’ll keep track of this by asking all enquires how they heard about us and keep a register of the direct referrals you make.
Tom Hatley added: “We are really pleased to be supporting a local charity where every penny goes towards helping those in need. It makes a huge difference and means fewer people in our community are going hungry or worrying about how they might get their next meal.”
There are other ways you can get involved with the Otley Food Bank and support the local community too. The charity is always on the lookout for volunteer drivers to help out with deliveries and other tasks. You can also donate food items and other staples, such as toiletries, via Otley’s larger supermarkets (Asda, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose) who leave trolleys at the checkout for people to drop off donations. Monetary donations can also be given and help with the purchase of items that are less commonly donated, such as sugar.
Once again, we’d like to thank everyone that took part in the survey and let us know which charity to support. The survey also helped us identify what we’re getting right and where improvements can be made, improving the service we deliver.
Keep an eye on our blog for future charity and company updates as well as financial news.
Photo: Karl Hockless
