Staff from M4 corridor law firm Thrings’ Swindon head office have made their latest donation to a charity that provides emergency food supplies to income-deprived individuals and families in the town.
Swindon Foodbank – which relies on food and monetary donations from local people and businesses in and around Swindon – has taken delivery of six boxes of food and drink and a four-figure cheque from the Drakes Meadow-based law firm. 
The charity says the donations – including breakfast cereals, soup, tinned fruit and vegetables, biscuits, tea and coffee, pasta and rice – will support many of the 30,500 people in Swindon who are in food or financial crisis.
Swindon Foodbank manager Cher Smith MBE visited Thrings’ office earlier this year to talk to staff about how the charity and its 50-strong team of volunteers have worked with the local community since its inception in 2005.
Last year it helped almost five thousand children and adults in the town with emergency food parcels, distributing the equivalent of 46,261kilos of food or 132,174 meals to those in need at its seven distribution centres and via the hospital discharge unit at the Great Western Hospital.
Thrings’ legal and business support teams in Swindon promptly decided to throw their weight behind the initiative by adopting Swindon Foodbank and Swindon Restore – both of which are run by Swindon Christian Community Projects – as one of their charities of the year, and gathering the emergency food supplies and money needed to help local people.
Cher said: “One in six adults in Swindon lives close to the breadline. When an unexpected crisis like sudden illness, relationship breakdown or redundancy hits, being able to put food on the table is no longer a given.
“Our warehouse and distribution centres have already assisted one thousand people this year, we are shortly hoping to open a new distribution centre in Haydon Wick and add an electric van to our fleet of vehicles. These, together with the invaluable and generous contributions we receive from organisations like Thrings, will go a long way to ensuring we are able to continue collecting and delivering food to those people who need it most.”
Scott Robins of Thrings’ dispute resolution team added: “The food and money donated by Thrings reflects the firm’s enthusiasm for Swindon Foodbank. Unfortunately, the number of individuals and families relying on the charity’s help is growing every year. It has therefore never been more important for local businesses to show their support for Swindon Foodbank, whether that’s by contributing food and money, donating time or even offering free professional advice.
“Many of our staff regularly devote time and energy to engage and collaborate with charitable organisations in the community. As a firm, we remain extremely supportive of Swindon Foodbank, a charity which carries out such necessary work, and we hope our donations will go a long way.”
