Staff from Haverhill branch of Cheffins volunteer at Haverhill Foodbank

Staff from an estate agent’s Haverhill office have been busy sorting donations at the town’s foodbank.

Christina Harris and Ryan Bourgaise, from Cheffins’ High Street branch were working in REACH Community Projects’ Haverhill Foodbank warehouse as part of the company’s employee volunteering scheme.

Christina, a director at Cheffins said: “Apart from a part-time member of staff in the warehouse, REACH rely on volunteers to sort and pack the food, as well as transport it from the donation points and on to the food hubs.

“We helped sort the donations brought in by vans collecting from their food donation bins in local supermarkets, and were then involved in packing up food parcels to go to the food hubs in Haverhill for those in need.”

She continued: “Sadly, due to the cost of living crisis and inflation, REACH has received 50 per cent fewer donations than last year, however the numbers of people relying on these donations has risen by 51 per cent in a year.

“We were pleased to be able to help today and will continue to support REACH with a foodbank (donation point) in our office, as well as ongoing volunteering.”

Henry Wilson MBE, CEO of REACH, said: “We’re incredibly grateful to the team from Cheffins, and for all of our volunteers for giving their time for others - we simply couldn’t exist without the support of these incredible individuals and businesses who choose to give back to the local community.

“We rely on over 90 volunteers who support people facing financial crisis, from giving guidance and triaging calls, to helping support cooking classes, to the work the wonderful team from Cheffins have done, which has been sorting and packing food parcels. Thank you.”

Cheffins’ will have a food donation bin in its Haverhill office from March 22 and the team will continue to volunteer throughout the year.

For further information on the charity, how to donate or volunteer, please visit: https://www.reachhaverhill.org.uk/