Publication Date: 23-12-2025 09:00
Bellway supports Ely Foodbank Winter Hardship Fund
Bellway has donated £1,500 and delivered a box of food and festive items to Ely Foodbank which provides emergency food and care parcels to families and individuals in Cambridgeshire.
Staff at the housebuilder’s Eastern Counties divisional head office in Cambourne donated items into a collection box while the financial donation was made to support the charity’s ‘Heat a Home This Winter’ project which is part of its Winter Hardship Fund.
Members of staff from the developer visited Ely Foodbank – which is based at The Methodist Church in Chapel Street, Ely – to hand over the donation box and to meet the charity workers.
Over the past year, Ely Foodbank, which is part of the Trussell Trust, has supported more than 9,000 people in crisis, including 3,500 children, providing emergency food parcels, household essentials, pet supplies and a welcoming space across east Cambridgeshire and Fenland. The 3,195 three-day emergency food supplies parcels supplied last year amounted to 80 tonnes of food.
Ely Foodbank was launched in 2012 by local churches working in partnership with a diverse range of organisations and members of the public across the city. The organisation now has eight distribution centres in Ely, Chatteris, March, Soham, Waterbeach, Cottenham, Haddenham and Burwell.
Jessie Byford, Fundraising Manager at Ely Foodbank, said: “We are very grateful to Bellway for its fabulous donations, which will support our clients facing crisis. Demand for our services is increasing. In the past year alone, the number of emergency parcels we distributed increased by 15 per cent on the previous 12 months.
“Local referral agencies, including schools, GPs, and housing providers, report a sharp rise in demand linked to the cost-of-living crisis. Bellway’s support will help ensure people do not have to choose between staying warm and putting food on the table this winter.”
Foodbanks partner with a wide range of care professionals such as doctors, health visitors, social workers and police to identify people in crisis and issue them with a foodbank voucher.
Kirstie Lancaster, PA to the Managing Director at Bellway Eastern Counties, said: “Ely Foodbank does incredible work to reach out to people who need help in Cambridgeshire. Our team enjoyed meeting the people who work for the charity as well as handing over the donated food and festive items.
“Through the centres that this fabulous organisation helps to run, people are welcomed, listened to, and can be offered other advice and signposting to help address their longer-term needs.
“As a socially responsible housebuilder, we are proud to be able to support the Foodbank’s recently launched ‘Heat a Home This Winter’ appeal because no-one should have to choose between putting the heating on in their home or choosing to buy food to eat. It is good to know that our donation will help towards keeping families in the county safe and warm in the cold months.”
To donate to the Winter Hardship Fund visit https://localgiving.org/fundraising/Join-the-Food-Fight, while for more about Ely Foodbank go to https://ely.foodbank.org.uk/.
Bellway Eastern Counties is building new homes across Cambridgeshire and will launch its Cathedral Rise development in Ely early next year. For information go to https://www.bellway.co.uk/new-homes/eastern-counties.
