A.F. Blakemore Colleagues Donate Over £25,000 During Coronavirus Crisis

April 21, 2020

Colleagues from across A.F. Blakemore have joined forces to donate £25,918 to local communities during the coronavirus crisis.

Colleagues from the company’s Blakemore Foodservice Darlaston depot and Blakemore Retail SPAR stores have awarded 304 in-kind donations worth £15,350 and a further £10,568 in monetary support to local good causes via A.F. Blakemore’s charitable trust, the Blakemore Foundation.

Vast numbers of essential goods have been donated to support hundreds of frontline NHS workers. Hospitals that have received support include Peterborough City Hospital, Sheffield Northern General Hospital, Princess Royal Hospital in Telford, Barnsley Hospital, Withybush General Hospital, Walsall Manor Hospital, Newark Hospital, Rookwood Hospital, University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff and Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend.

As well as this, Blakemore Retail SPAR staff have awarded goods to care homes, food banks and volunteer groups across England and Wales, offering essential care packages for the isolated, elderly and most vulnerable. Good causes to have benefitted include Chirk Court Care Home, Grimsby Food Kitchen and the Black Country Food Bank.

Donations of Easter eggs and craft materials were also given to Easter ‘social distancing’ street parties and schools open for keyworkers’ children.

The Blakemore Foundation has donated £10,568 in monetary support to 90 good causes and emergency appeals. The monies donated will enable charities to maintain services for local people during these uncertain times. Good causes include St David’s Hospice in Caernarfon, St John Ambulance, the YMCA, Aspire and Compton Care.

A.F. Blakemore Community Affairs Officer Kate Senter said: “During these extraordinary times, it is heart-warming to know that communities are helping one another where they can.

“I am so proud of colleagues supporting their local community and all the community relationships that continue to grow as a result.”

A.F. Blakemore is committed to making a significant, positive contribution to local communities, and in 2018/19 the Blakemore Foundation awarded £433,901 to good causes across the company's trading area, via 7,414 donations.
 

A Facebook post from Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust thanking Blakemore Foodservice for providing refreshments for staff at Walsall Manor Hospital 

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