Fareham and Gosport Basics Bank enjoys bumper donation from energy company Utilita to help families in the new year

AN energy company hub in Gosport has donated more than £3,000 to nearby foodbank to support in-need families over Christmas and the start of the New Year.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Staff from Gosport’s Utilita Energy Hub have handed over a cheque for £3,436 to the Fareham and Gosport Basics Bank in Aspect House, Westbury Road.

Pam Elliott, Manager at the basics foodbank said staff and volunteers were ‘absolutely amazed’ by how much money Utilita had raised.

She said: ‘I never thought it would be so much.

Robert Tait, Retail Manager at the Utilita Energy Hub in Gosport presents a £3,436 donation to Philip Rutt, Chair of Trustees for the Gosport Basics Foodbank.Robert Tait, Retail Manager at the Utilita Energy Hub in Gosport presents a £3,436 donation to Philip Rutt, Chair of Trustees for the Gosport Basics Foodbank.
Robert Tait, Retail Manager at the Utilita Energy Hub in Gosport presents a £3,436 donation to Philip Rutt, Chair of Trustees for the Gosport Basics Foodbank.
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

‘The support we have received from Utilita has been fantastic and will help us to feed the people in the community who are really struggling.’

Over the past 12 months, the basics bank has dealt with some 2,500 referrals for people who find themselves facing a crisis and don’t have enough money to buy food, as well as providing parcels to last seven days for around 5,000 people.

Read More
Trailblazing Portsmouth scheme shocks arsonists out of a life of crime with terr...

Foodbank workers have been warning for months that many struggling families face a difficult Christmas period, with rising energy, petrol, and food prices coming at a time when Universal Credit is been reduced and the furlough scheme becomes a distant memory.

The donation comes from a nationwide initiative where Utilita Energy donated a penny every time one of its 830,000 customers completed an online top-up between November 15 and December 15.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Each penny was added to a central fund, which has been divided between each of Utilita’s nine energy hubs that are located across the UK.

Robert Tait, retail manager at the Utilita Energy Hub situated in Gosport High Street, said: ‘Seeing the work the team at the Gosport Basics Foodbank does, we know they will make every penny of this important donation go as far as it can, impacting the lives of hundreds of households who need to know that people care.

‘It’s our absolute pleasure to know that Utilita Energy and its wonderful customers are making lives that little bit easier for those who need help the most.’

Fareham and Gosport Basics Bank is run by Friends of the Homeless, with donation drop-off points at Sainsbury's in Fareham, Waitrose in Gosport and Locks Heath, and The Co-op branch in the Lee-on-the-Solent.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

Subscribe here for unlimited access to all our coverage, including Pompey, for just 26p a day.

Related topics: