'The Vantage Food Bank Project': The After Story 

Generous contributions from our staff, customers, and private donators allowed ‘The Vantage Food Bank Project’ to be a resounding success. Many of our Centres were able to take several trips to their local food bank due to the significant amount of donations they received. Over 90% of food distributed by food banks is donated so these contributions really will play a vital role in helping our local communities.

The Chosen Food Banks:

• Lexus Leeds donated to Leeds North and West Foodbank which is seeded by The Trussell Trust. They are working towards stopping hunger in the local area, providing ongoing support to those in need.
• Lexus Preston gave all their generous donations to Leyland Foodbank who provide temporary relief for the hungry in Leyland.
• Citroën Blackpool donated all the contributions from customers and staff to Blackpool Food Bank who provide emergency food parcels for people in need.
• Both of our Centres in Morecambe, ŠKODA and Toyota, chose to donate to Morecambe Bay Foodbank which is seeded by The Trussell Trust. This food bank receives and distributes over six tonnes of food each month, helping those most vulnerable.
• Both Kia and Toyota Scarborough donated to The Rainbow Centre. Over the Christmas period, The Rainbow Centre planned to feed over 2000 residents of Scarborough and so were grateful for all the donations we were able to offer.
• Toyota Blackburn delivered 30 bags of packet goods and hygiene products as well as over 200 canned goods to the Blackburn Foodbank. Seeded by The Trussell Trust, this food bank has given 1128 three-day emergency food supplies to people in crisis in the last year.

• Toyota Colne were able to donate 32 bags of food to The Pendle Food Alliance who operate on behalf of twelve food banks, particularly supporting communities through the COVID 19 crisis.
• Toyota Knaresborough were able to drop off over 30 bags of food to Gracious Street Methodist Church. Our donations tripled in 24 hours, so our team were able to provide two loads of food donations to this food bank during the course of ‘The Vantage Food Bank Project’.
• Toyota Leeds delivered their donations to Holbeck Foodbank who provide crisis food parcels to individuals and families within Holbeck who are in immediate need of donations.
• Toyota Preston delivered multiple bags of donations to The Foxton Centre. This charity provides support, safety and food to vulnerable adults and young people in Preston.
• Toyota Wakefield had so many generous donations that they made three trips to St Catherine’s Church Centre where the donations were split into Christmas food hampers and distributed to other food banks in Wakefield.
• Toyota York delivered donations to the Reusable Community Food and Clothing Bank who then distributed all the food to those most vulnerable over the festive period.

Thanks to the efforts of our customers and staff we were able to donate over £1000 worth of food to local food banks across Yorkshire and Lancashire. We are so grateful for all the support we received for this project. Remember you can still donate directly to food banks, helping those most vulnerable in these difficult times.