OREANDA-NEWS. A Reading food bank that was targeted by thieves has received a helping hand from a local energy company.

Six volunteers from Southern Electric Power Distribution spent a day making food parcels to help replenish stocks at ReadiFood, where earlier last month thieves broke into its warehouse and stole essentials that make up the food and care parcels.

The organisation, run by Reading’s Faith Christian Group, delivers around 120 parcels every week to families and individuals who can’t afford to feed themselves. It is dependent on donations of food and toiletries from the public and relies on the efforts of volunteers to sort, pack and deliver the parcels.

The helpers from Southern Electric Power Distribution’s central Reading office, with help from some of their colleagues from Scotland, donated their corporate volunteering days to help ReadiFood.

Rachel Hughes led the team from the electricity network operator and explained why she wanted to help: “I heard the news about the break-in at ReadiFood and my thoughts immediately went to the people who rely on its support. Luckily, the food bank has since had a fantastic influx of food donations from people wanting to help them get back on their feet, but they also needed extra pairs of hands to sort the items into individual parcels ready to deliver to the people who need them. Everyone in our company gets a volunteering day each year to help out in the community, and I wanted to make sure I used mine making a real difference to people in the community where I live and work. Food banks are invaluable for people struggling to afford to feed themselves and their families, and it’s sad to think that criminals have targeted such an important lifeline.”

Alison Peyton, a Co-ordinator at ReadiFood, added: “It was lovely to have an enthusiastic and interested team donating their volunteering time to us. They were able to put in a focused effort to make up recipe meal bags, such as “chilli nite” and “hotdog hotpot”. These are then incorporated into a food parcel with a recipe, hoping they will provide something a bit different and cheerful for the recipients. They also sorted and organised toiletries, donated in response to the theft we had suffered. I’m glad to say that with the help of a lot people we have continued to provide all the food parcels needed, with only a small interruption to the provision of toiletries.”

ReadiFood is just one of the local charities that Southern Electric Power Distribution has supported through its ‘Be the Difference’ volunteering programme, and the company always welcomes requests for volunteer support from not-for-profit organisations and community groups.