Cost of living: Company step in with £1,000 donation to prepare food bank for "critical winter period"

NCO Europe donated £500 towards the food bank at Preston Community Hub in Samuel Street, which will support essential food supplies during the upcoming winter period.

They have also donated £500 to the Hub’s refurbishment project.

>>>Read more here about the cost of living crisis in Lancashire

>>>Donate here to help with the refurbishment of Preston Community Hub

Taz Ali, founder of Preston Community Hub, said he was expecting the cost of living crisis to bring a “critical winter period”.

He said: “It’s always fantastic news when a local based business get involved.

"It was an absolute pleasure to have met Deborah and the management team of NCO Europe Ltd who got involved from prepping to distributing the food to many of our service users throughout the day.

"The team were brilliant, got involved and whilst going through our tour of the building gave some great ideas and shared the vision of hope and belief of making a positive difference to communities. I can’t wait to work on further collective projects.”

NCO Europe Ltd has also donated 10 chromebooks towards a new project on digital inclusion.

A spokesman said they felt “privileged” to spend the day at the Hub and it was “a very humbling experience for us all”.

What’s the refurb all about?

In total, leaders at the hub hope to raise £45,000 for improvements to the hub. They want to:

- Repair the roof

- Install an industrial kitchen that can serve as a soup kitchen, breakfast club and can be used for our tea and coffee mornings

- Revamp the toilet facilities

- Improve the halls, allowing them to rent spaces out

- Develop an IT suite