Falkirk Foodbank gets support from Scottish Gas team

The utility company is complying with guidelines and focusing on visits to vulnerable customers and provided emergency response, leaving some of its engineers with a lighter workload than normal.

Six local workers – Chris Armitt, John Barry, Barry Dignan, Duncan Walker, Brian Lawson and Gary Brown -are using their spare time to transport food for Falkirk Foodbank, which is now operating a delivery service rather than asking people to come and collect.

The engineers’ work comes as Scottish Gas announces a new partnership with the Trussell Trust – which supports Falkirk Foodbank – that will see its team members, and their British Gas colleagues, volunteer their support nationwide.

The Trussell Trust’s existing volunteer base has been curtailed because many supporters are aged over 70 and are now self-isolating, because they are deemed 'at risk' of getting coronavirus.

Scottish Gas hopes its engineers can make up the shortfall, using their vans to collect donations and carry out vital deliveries.

Eleanor Neilson from Falkirk Foodbank said: “As you can imagine, demand is especially high at the moment – and without the support of Scottish Gas, we’d be low on volunteers. We hope the team keeps safe and are so grateful to them for volunteering at this time.”

Chris Armitt, engineer at Scottish Gas, said: “Taking some time out of my day to help someone who is struggling feels very rewarding. Volunteering has been a great experience so far, and I would recommend more people help out at the food bank if they can. You never know – it might be you needing help one day.”

For more information on how Scottish Gas is supporting its customers throughout the coronavirus outbreak visit https://www.britishgas.co.uk/covid19.

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