Howden Thatcham’s supermarket sweep for West Berks Foodbank

An insurance company has donated more than £1,000 worth of groceries to support 555 local families in need.

Howden Insurance Thatcham, formerly A-Plan Insurance, recently took to the aisles of Tesco Newbury and filled six trolleys with cupboard staples, toiletries, nappies, snacks and other items to support up to 1,276 children over the summer holidays.

While the Supermarket Sweep was a fun and engaging way to gather donations, it also highlighted the number of people who locally face food insecurity, especially out of term time when school meals are unavailable.

Manager of West Berks Foodbank, Fran Chamings, explained more: “Many people don’t realise that the school summer holidays can be just as difficult as the cold winter months.

“But in reality, hundreds of local families are reliant on school lunches and without this meal in the holidays, it’s a real challenge.

“Working with pastoral teams from 49 local schools, the foodbank has delivered in excess of 25 tonnes of food to support households.

“Bulk food deliveries are sent to each school and distributed by the school to their families.

“West Berks Foodbank has also offered personalised support to families needing nappies, baby formula or who have food allergies or specific dietary requirements.”

Howden’s haul includes more than 300 tins and cans, 150 packs of biscuits, 100 juice cartons, and over 600 individual toiletries and household cleaning products.

Business development manager at Howden Thatcham, Carlie Norwell, was inspired to organise the event when a competition winner asked for their prize to go towards a local cause.

She explained: “We recently held a contest to win a £500 pre-loaded Mastercard and our winner Chris Ellis, of Horsepower Kustoms, asked if we could instead donate his prize to a local foodbank.

“Howden decided to match fund the £500 after hearing about the generosity of Chris, our winner, and work with West Berks Foodbank, who provide incredible support to local families.

“None of this would have been possible without Fran and the West Berks Foodbank team, the incredible team at Tesco Newbury, nor Chris himself.”