A FINANCE house in Bury has donated £500 to a food bank based in the Radcliffe area.

Healthy Investment (HI), a friendly society which dates back 180 years, has supported Porch Boxes, which is supplying crisis packs during the coronavirus crisis.

Working out of premises in Bradley Fold and Bridge Methodist Church and covering the whole borough, the charity has been on the lookout for non-perishable goods and toiletries to hand over to vulnerable households.

Peter Green, HI's chief executive, said, “Food banks are feeling even more pressure on their resources as they try to meet the huge increase in demand for their services caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

"Porch Boxes is a local charity we have supported in the past and we are pleased to be able to do so again at a time of such great need.

“Hopefully things will start to return to normal soon but until then we know that a lot of families in the communities around our office are struggling and need some extra help during these difficult times.

"Our members trust us to invest their money in an ethical way and I am sure they would also approve of us supporting such a worthy cause on their behalf.”

Julia Rowlands, the charity's chair, added: "We are extremely grateful to Healthy Investment for their generous donation, which comes at a time when there has been a huge increase in demand for our assistance.

"We have delivered more than 1,300 food parcels to the local community in the last six weeks alone, which is more than double the number we would usually expect to provide.”

Donations of food items can be made at the charity's collection points in Tesco or Asda in Bury.

The organisation is currently in particular need of donations of tinned vegetables and tomatoes, hotdogs and pasta.