Taff Ely Foodbank has scooped a massive £20,000 award from insurance provider Aviva, thanks to the help of Caerphilly-headquartered Thomas Carroll Group.

Thomas Carroll has supported various Foodbanks for many years, helping raise funds as well as collecting donated goods and food for those in need.

This year, as part of that ongoing support, Thomas Carroll Group applied for the Aviva Broker Community Fund Award on behalf of Taff Ely Food Bank. Aviva’s Community Fund invites insurance brokers from around the UK to apply for a financial grant to help a cause that will benefit the local community, with climate action or financial wellbeing in mind.

The £20,000 awarded to Taff Ely Foodbank will help them to set up a scheme to help tackle hygiene poverty.

Foodbank Project Manager Andrew Butcher explains:

“Our generous donors are always giving us tins of food, or dried goods such as pasta and the like, but what a lot of people forget to donate are hygiene products including deodorant or shower gel, as well as cleaning products like washing powder and kitchen or bathroom cleaner.

“These items can be really expensive and aren’t as crucial as feeding a family for many people in need, but they are just as important as they can make a big difference to a person’s self-esteem.

“Keeping clean, smelling good and having a hygienic home are all really important for mental health and wellbeing, especially for those with job interviews to attend for example, but these kinds of goods are also often overlooked when it comes to donations.”

Andrew continued:

“That’s why we were so thrilled when we heard we had been awarded £20,000 by Aviva, as it will allow us to stock our shelves with as many of these products as we can to ensure that our visitors get the hygiene products that they need.

“We are so grateful to Thomas Carroll for their ongoing support, not only with food drives and fundraising, but also with application processes such as these. This money will make a massive difference for us, and those who depend on the Foodbank.”

Rhys Thomas, CEO of Thomas Carroll Group, said:

“We keep fairly quiet about the charitable work we do here at Thomas Carroll Group, but it is a fundamental part of our ethos as a company and one that we are very proud of.

“It has been great to work with Andrew and his team at Taff Ely Foodbank and this recent Aviva Award is just the icing on the cake for us. The work they do is so important to the local community, especially during this current cost of living crisis, so anything we can do to help and support is well worth it.”

Based out of an industrial unit in Pontyclun, Taff Ely Foodbank provided nearly 5000 families with three-day emergency food packages last year and has eight distribution centres around the Taff Ely area in Rhondda Cynon Taff.

Andrew added:

“When I heard about the amount we had received, I honestly cried. This is going to make such a big difference to so many people and we are eternally grateful to both Aviva and Thomas Carroll.”

To learn more about Taff Ely Foodbank, visit: https://taffely.foodbank.org.uk/