Staff from business water retailer Water Plus helped to collect more than 80 crates of donations for Stoke-on-Trent Foodbank to feed families in need this winter.
Volunteers from the company, which has its main office in the city, spent two days engaging shoppers at Tesco Extra stores in Hanley and Longton. They collected more than 880kg of food and toiletries, which was enough to provide three-day emergency food packs for 90 people.
The initiative follows a similar collection in June, when Water Plus volunteers gathered more than 50 crates totalling 513kg, at ASDA Wolstanton. Staff have also been contributing through a donation point at the company’s headquarters.
Water Plus, which moved into its new Stoke-on-Trent headquarters earlier this year, supports a range of charitable initiatives and gives staff paid time to volunteer each year. The company is currently recruiting for new customer service roles following significant investment in its Trentham Lakes base.
Jason Scagell, chief executive of Water Plus, said: “The enthusiasm and efforts of our team have been great to see, supporting local communities and removing barriers in people’s lives, to help more people thrive. Increasing lasting positive impacts in communities is very important to our great people who work for us, and for our business too as we’re on a mission to build more longer-term partnerships, as together we help more customers save water and cut carbon emissions.
“We’ve a team that’s passionate about providing great customer service, as well as helping communities in England and Scotland to deliver a big and lasting difference – and there’s more ahead on what we’ll be doing, at Water Plus, in 2026.”
Annual data from the Trussell Trust shows more than 100,000 emergency food parcels were distributed in Staffordshire and Cheshire in 2024-25, including 17,059 in Stoke-on-Trent. Of these, 6,543 were for children.
Between April 2024 and March 2025, nearly 20,000 people have been fed through Stoke-on-Trent Foodbank.
Corrine Boden MBE, Stoke-on-Trent Foodbank director of operations, said: “The food donations and emergency parcels are literally a lifeline to those in most need in our communities, so it’s great the kind-hearted Water Plus team have once again supported the foodbank, bringing meaningful impacts for communities.”
