Local business makes bumper food bank donation

Colleagues at Wilkin Chapman’s Grimsby office have donated 947 items to Grimsby’s We Are ONE Foundation after a ‘battle of the departments’ food collection.

The charity committee at Wilkin Chapman has a longstanding relationship with We are One Foundation, which works to provide support for people facing food poverty, and the recent donation is the largest made so far.

The ‘battle of the departments’ idea was the brainchild of Kelsey Jerrard, solicitor, who is a member of the charity committee at Wilkin Chapman. Kelsey said:

“We have an ongoing relationship with We Are ONE Foundation and we’ve held food collections before school holidays over the last year. The six week summer holiday is one of the busiest times for food banks, so we wanted an idea to get momentum behind the collection to ensure a wide range of items were collected.

“Each of our 11 teams had specific food items to collect. Prizes were awarded for the most items collected and the most creative display.

“We collected 947 items altogether enabling us to make our biggest donation ever. We are now planning to run ‘battle of the departments’ annually before the summer holiday as it really helped to spur people on to donate as much as possible.”

Wilkin Chapman’s recoveries team, or ‘Team Beans’, took the prize for most items collected with 149 cans of beans, while the accounts and HR team, who were collecting condiments, won best display. The items collected were all donated to We Are ONE Foundation, to ensure they reached those people most in need across Grimsby. Partner and head of the charity committee, Jane Eatock said:

“The cost of living is affecting everyone. The charity committee, which includes partners and employees based in the Grimsby office, come together every other month to discuss fundraising ideas to support the local community in and around the Grimsby area. We’re really conscious that many families are struggling to put food on the tablet and we want to help our local community as much as we can.

“We Are ONE does a fantastic job and we’re proud to be involved with helping them continue to deliver their valuable work.”

While Wilkin Chapman’s charity committee works closely with We Are ONE Foundation, it is by no means the only charity it supports. In July, the firm hosted a charity football tournament and family fun day in Grimsby, which raised £2,619.16 for mental health charity, North East Lincolnshire Mind. Wilkin Chapman also works with Women’s Aid, holding Easter egg and Christmas gift collections, and Harbour Place through the sleepout and many clothes collections.

With over 400 partners and staff located across a network of legal offices in Grimsby, Lincoln, Beverley and Louth, Wilkin Chapman is the largest law firm in the Lincolnshire and East Yorkshire area and it ranks as the 111th largest firm in the UK, with offices in Grimsby, Lincoln, Beverley and Louth. Wilkin Chapman provides trusted legal and insolvency advice to both private and commercial clients who are based locally, nationally and internationally. For more information visit www.wilkinchapman.co.uk.

We Are ONE Foundation is a grassroots charity staffed solely by volunteers that operates in Grimsby and the surrounding areas. It works to provide support for people facing food poverty including the homeless, those in hostels, the elderly and families in financial distress.