Openreach employees have collected 500kg of food donations which have been distributed to foodbanks across Wales.
The idea for the collection came from Openreach Wales’ Advocacy Panel – a small group of Openreach volunteers from across Wales that come together every month to discuss issues that are important to the 2,200 Welsh engineers and provide advice to the Openreach Wales Board.
Russell Clarke, patch lead for Openreach engineers in and around Cardiff and Newport and a member of the Openreach Wales Advocacy Panel, said:
“I came up with the idea that we should do something for the local community.
“Every day we’re working in towns and villages maintaining and upgrading our infrastructure and we know how vital foodbanks can be for some people.
“I’m delighted to see how colleagues have embraced this idea and managed to collect an incredible amount of food parcels for foodbanks across Wales.”
Kim Mears, Openreach Wales Board Chair, said:
“We are immensely proud of our volunteers who have gone above and beyond to support their communities and collect half a tonne of food parcels for foodbanks across Wales.
“Our engineers live and work across every part of Wales and this gesture demonstrates how much our communities mean to us.
“We know how important foodbanks are to a number of people so it’s rewarding to be able to play a small part in helping to prevent people from going hungry.”
Among those foodbanks to benefit from Openreach’s collection are: Bridgend, Newport, Bangor, Malpas, Nelson Taff Bargoed, Carmarthen, Gorseinon, Cardiff and Wrexham.
The food donations include a variety of essential items such as canned goods, dry foods, and other non-perishable items.
