Stainless Metalcraft from Chatteris has donated hundreds of pounds to two food banks in aid of its community fund.

Cambs Times: Stephen Buttriss, sales manager at Metalcraft, holds a cheque for £500 to North Lakes Food Bank. Picture: TWITTER/STAINLESS METALCRAFTStephen Buttriss, sales manager at Metalcraft, holds a cheque for £500 to North Lakes Food Bank. Picture: TWITTER/STAINLESS METALCRAFT (Image: Archant)

The firm donated £750 to Chatteris Food Bank as part of its quarterly programme of donations, as well as £500 to the North Lakes Food Bank following the launch of the Metalcraft Cockermouth Community Fund in February.

The donations come as the local community rallies to support those in need during the coronavirus pandemic.

Martin Lawrence, commercial director at Metalcraft, said: “We received some fantastic applications from local community groups for this quarter’s funding.

“However, in light of the fight against COVID-19 and its impact on the wider community, we felt it was right to make sure this quarter’s donation would benefit as many as possible, as quickly as possible.

“With this in mind, we identified the local food bank as an organisation that could benefit from our support and, following discussions with the committee and all those who had already made applications this quarter, it was agreed that this was the right approach.”

MORE: Fen organisations receive hundreds as part of Metalcraft’s community fund

Mr Lawrence said the donation date has been brought forward to the beginning of April and that all funding applications received for this quarter will now be considered at a later date.

He added: “All applications received this quarter will now be rolled forward for consideration in quarter two, when we all hope we will be heading back towards more normal times.”

The Metalcraft Community Fund was established in Chatteris in 2017 and has supported over 30 local organisations, either financially or through practical support, since that time.

Since then, the Cockermouth fund was launched, building on the success of its Chatteris fund to offer support to not-for-profit organisations near its nuclear customer base.

Speaking at the time of the launch, Stephen Buttriss, sales manager at Metalcraft, said: “As a supplier to the nuclear industry, we’ve had a long relationship with the county of Cumbria and wanted to give something back to this key community, which has supported our business for over 40 years.

“To date, the Metalcraft Community Fund has given nearly £8,000 to organisations in Cambridgeshire and, following discussions with the local town council, we agreed that a similar scheme could work well for Cockermouth.”

The deadline for the second round of applications for the Chatteris fund is July 31, 2020 with successful organisations being informed by the end of August.

For more information or to apply for funding, visit https://www.metalcraft.co.uk/community-fund.