More than £1,500 worth of pots, pans and kitchen goods have been donated by a local co-operative to help local families in need.

The different ranges of goods were all leftover following a refit at The Co-operative Food in Tadley.

But rather than send them to another Southern Co-op retail store to sell, colleagues decided they would donate them to the Basingstoke Voluntary Action charity.

The group, which describes itself as a charity that supports charities, has offered the large haul of kitchen goods to two charities and hopes they can go on to help people who are having to start their lives over.

Rebecca Hayward, Store Manager, said: “A lot of the usual charity activities have had to be put on hold this year but donating goods like this is a nice safe way we can continue to make a difference.

“The Amazon lockers are now taking up the space where these products used to be on display so it felt right to donate them to a local cause. Being a Basingstoke charity, our colleagues know some of the people who work there and it’s great to know that the donation will benefit people in the local area.”

Basingstoke Voluntary Action has over 300 members who are charities or not for profit groups and together they have recently launched a new community lottery which could generate around £20,000 a year in funding.

The charity is also running a Reboot IT project which allows people to donate their old computers and laptops to be wiped and upcycled before being given to children who are being home schooled or the elderly to help address issues around isolation at this challenging time.

Neil Morrow, Project Manager at Basingstoke Voluntary Action, said: “We are the go to place for local charities and good causes to ‘get stuff done’ and helped co-ordinate the local response during the pandemic.

“Not for profit local causes can come to us for a range of help and support, from starting up a new cause to finding funding and volunteers, all of which are offered in return for becoming a member of Basingstoke Voluntary Action – for which there is no cost.

“Because of the way we work, we have been able to reach out to our members to see who can benefit from donations such as this and we know it will make a difference to local people.”

Local causes are invited to get in touch with Basingstoke Voluntary Action via www.bvaction.org.uk or by calling 01256 423816.

For more information on Southern Co-op’s commitment to support local communities, visit southern.coop/.