Nisa retailers have donated almost £280,000 to good causes from food to health charities since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

Since the beginning of lockdown on the 23rd March, Nisa partners have collectively donated £279,142 via the symbol group’s Making a Difference Locally charity.

A total of 307 individual stores have taken part in the fundraising project, making a total of 443 donations during this period.

With particularly increased pressure on the healthcare system and a greater dependency on food charities for many families, Nisa retailers decided to responded to these needs.

A total of 52% of all donations over the last three months are being made to charities promoting good health and wellbeing.

A further 43% of donations were made to those promoting good food and nutrition, such as foodbanks and other community groups.

Support from Nisa partners continues to grow, too, as Nisa partners donated £108,716 via Making a Difference Locally in June, an increase of 5% on the previous month.

One such good cause to receive funding over recent months was provisions provider Lo’gelly Lunches, who received £850 donation from the Nisa Local store on Main Street, Lochgelly.

The voluntary group operates a project in the town looking to combat food poverty, social isolation and clothes poverty.
Lorraine Mullen, community education worker for Lo’gelly Lunches, said: “The service, as you can imagine as a result of the recent impact of social distancing, has had to change to meet the demands of our community.

“We are now operating as a community larder, offering food packs to families suffering as a result of the current Covid-19 crisis. The donation from Nisa enables us to offer support to vulnerable families by providing fresh food within their local community.

“This is absolutely crucial at this time as many families find themselves caught up in a web of benefits that are taking time to kick in, with a knock-on effect of leaving households with little money available.

“We will also use some of the monies to create a ‘joyful monies’ programme, whereby we can use some to cultivate a spirit of togetherness in the community, through projects aimed at the wider community; such as cooking initiatives and perhaps a growing project.”

Since its formation in 2008, Making a Difference Locally has raised over £11.7m and supported charities and other good causes with over 12,000 donations.