EVESHAM business Dawn Foods has donated £500 to Caring Hands in the Vale to help the charity to buy more provisions to stock its food bank which is seeing unprecedented demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Based at the Vale of Evesham Christian Centre on Bewdley Street, Caring Hands operates a successful food bank, clothing bank, household bank and baby bank as well as resources for individuals who are homeless or sleeping rough in and around the town of Evesham.

It operates a drop-in diner where people can get a free two or three course hot meal and, by arrangement, use of a laptop and Wi-Fi for job and housing applications.

Recently Caring Hands has seen a large increase in referrals to the food bank as local people struggle to make ends meet during the current coronavirus crisis.

READ MORE: A day in the life of a home carer during pandemic

Diane Bennett, from Caring Hands, said: “We would like to thank Dawn Foods for their amazing generosity and support to Caring Hands’ Food Bank.

"In the difficult times we are experiencing now, referrals to the food bank have increased dramatically and some of our resources are stretched.

"The gift of £500 from Dawn Foods will help us to purchase the items are short of and enable us to continue operating the food bank."

Tim Clarkson, Dawn Foods UK and Ireland cluster director, said: “The support work that Diane and team at Caring Hands do in the local Evesham community is superb but they are under even more pressure as so many families are turning to them in these very difficult times.

"We are glad to be able to help with a cash donation”.