From left to right: Volunteer Steve, Dr Sanjay Mall, CEO of Big Difference, Aaron Dolman, Logistics Manager, Big Difference, Kelly Chahal, Finance Director, Big Difference, Ashley James, Chair of Big Difference.
Associated British Ports (ABP) in Southampton recently donated £5000 to a local food bank charity, The Big Difference.
The Big Difference is a charity based in Northam and Woolston that redistributes food to over 100 charities, community groups and schools based in Southampton. The charity has also set up a supermarket in the Northam Community Hall to provide food and clothing at cost to the local community.
The charity works with local food suppliers and major supermarket chains in the South of England that provide low-cost supplies. The supplies are stored in Northam or Woolston and redistributed or sold in the Big Difference Supermarket.
Alastair Welch, Regional Director, ABP, said, "We are happy to be able to donate at this time of year to a charity that provides food and clothing at low cost or free of charge to the Southampton Community. A charity like this has high running costs in terms of rent, fuel, and food purchases and therefore relies on support from local businesses to help; we are pleased to be in a position to help."
The charity employs a team of four people but relies on the generosity of its volunteers to give up their time to manage the supermarket, collect food and make deliveries.
Dr Sanjay, Chief Executive Big Difference, said: "We are overwhelmed with the donation from ABP. We will put the money towards the charity's general running costs to continue supporting our local communities. I set up the charity four years ago to ensure we can support local people in their time of need, and that objective remains the same, yet we have grown to support even more people across the City. As always, we are keen to do more and are always looking for innovative ways to work with new partners and suppliers."
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