SWANSEA BUILDING SOCIETY has made generous donations, totalling £7,000, to ten food banks and two local charities this December, driven by concerns over the cost-of-living crisis affecting many of the communities it serves across Wales.
The building society, with branch offices in Swansea, Mumbles, Carmarthen and Cowbridge, has donated £500 to each of the ten food banks, which span all the geographic areas covered by its branch and admin offices.
The food banks benefiting from the donations are Carmarthen, Sketty, Neath, Port Talbot, Ammanford, Llanelli, Taff Ely, Cardiff, Vale (Barry), and Abergavenny. This is the second such donation Swansea Building Society has made to food banks in 2022, following one made to five local food banks earlier in the year.
In addition to the food bank donations, the Society has also donated £1,000 each to two separate Swansea-based charities to help with their Christmas appeals.
One donation was made to a kidney charity, Popham Kidney Support, to enable 100 children and their families to attend a screening of Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical. The second to Faith in Families’ (Swansea) Compassionate Christmas Appeal, to help give struggling parents a gift voucher to buy their child a Christmas present this year.
Margaret Jones, Chair of the foodbank committee, Port Talbot foodbank, said: “This donation from Swansea Building Society is a real help for Port Talbot food bank at this incredibly busy time. The cost-of-living crisis is severely affecting our already overstretched service, and we have seen more people than ever coming in to get the food and other essentials they so desperately need. Our service is completely reliant on donations, so to receive this boost from Swansea Building Society just before Christmas is very welcome.”
Alun Williams, Chief Executive Officer, Swansea Building Society, added: “Swansea Building Society has achieved great success over the past couple of years; however, we are exceedingly mindful of the financial difficulties so many are facing during this current cost-of-living crisis – a crisis compounded by the spike in heating and fuel costs during this cold spell of weather. That is why we are very glad to be able to make these donations to the food banks and charities making a real difference to the lives of those who may be struggling financially this Christmas across Wales.”
