An Aberdeen food bank received a huge donation of stock yesterday – just days after revealing it was down to its last cereal box.
The Instant Neighbour scheme in the city’s Seaton district appealed for items last week after it found itself running on empty.
It has since been inundated with gifts of food from individuals and businesses and yesterday catering company ESS Support Services was the latest to come to its aid.
The firm’s food operations manager Graham Singer got in touch with several companies across the north-east and together they gathered £2,500 worth of food.
The contribution was passed onto Instant Neighbour yesterday, and will now be distributed to people in need in Aberdeen.
Mr Singer said he and his fellow donors were delighted to be able to do their bit.
“It’s all too easy, particularly given the current climate in the energy sector, to focus on our own challenges and forget the bigger picture,” he said.
ESS Offshore business director Ronnie Kelman said: “What Instant Neighbour does for individuals in serious need is truly amazing so we hope our contribution will make a serious difference in some way.
“It is fantastic that some of our local suppliers have got involved.”
Sophy Copland, chief executive of Instant Neighbour, said demand for the use of food banks had trebled in the last three years and looked likely to continue given the current downturn in the North Sea.
She said: “Food is a basic need and to imagine young families, pensioners and other dependants going without it is harrowing.”