Fareham business Protec Technical Ltd donates £750 to stop children going hungry this half-term

Managing director of Protec Technical Ltd in Fareham, Martin Smyth, decided to make the generous gesture to Redlands Primary School after seeing national reports about children going hungry and the furore over the quality of some of the food parcels provided for pupils on free school meals.

Martin said: ‘I was watching the news and saw the images of some of the food parcels being provided and was concerned about the quality of food being delivered for these children. It’s difficult for us to do something on a national level but I contacted our closest school to ask how many children were on free school meals and as a company we said we would like to make this donation to help with food provision.

‘We wanted to do something to help local children and while we can’t do this for every school hopefully if other businesses provide similar support then we can start to make a difference on a larger scale.’

Redlands Primary School headteacher Kevin Harcombe has said the money will be split between around 50 families in need of support which will help to provide food for their children.

Mr Harcombe said: ‘We are really thrilled with the gesture which will help support the families who need it. It’s a fantastic act of kindness and it’s great to see a local company doing something to support the local community. We will provide eligible families with vouchers to purchase food and this will really help to keep some families going.’

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The business made the donation despite facing their own difficulties during the pandemic which has had a massive impact on the aviation industry. Despite this, the company also spent £250 on food supplies which were donated to the town’s Acts of Kindness Food Bank.

Martin said: ‘One of the few positives to come out of the pandemic is seeing how communities have pulled together. I’m sure there are lots of other good things going on with other businesses which will hopefully continue after the pandemic.’

Mr Harcombe added: ‘People are being really selfless and we’ve had smaller donations from other members of the community. We had pensioner who sent us his Winter Fuel Allowance as he wanted to help ensure that children didn’t go hungry.’

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