A STOCKTON-headquartered national lift company has made a valuable contribution to local food banks in its continued efforts to support its local communities.

With more than 40 per cent of children in Middlesbrough living below the poverty line, the need to help disadvantaged families has never been greater, with reliance on food banks increasing as the cost of living and household bills continue to rise.

Pickerings Lifts selected and paid for two grocery food orders at its local Asda store in Bath Lane worth £100 each. Both orders were delivered and donated to Billingham and Stockton Borough Foodbank and Middlesbrough Foodbank respectively.

Neil Marsden, sales and marketing director at Pickerings Lifts, said: “We’re really pleased to make this donation to support our local food banks.

“We know just how vital both food banks are in the region and the wonderful work they do to help local families ensure they have food in the fridge and cupboards.

“The pandemic brought job losses and higher inflation leading to greater dependency on food banks for many people of all backgrounds and ages, which in turn has put a lot of pressure on them.

“Because food banks are 100 per cent volunteer-based, we really wanted to do something to show our appreciation and recognise the work that they do.

“We hope our donations help both food banks to continue to deliver their outstanding service to the local community, offering a much needed level of security and support to those in need.”

The Stockton and Billingham Borough Foodbank and Middlesbrough Foodbank are both part of a nationwide network of food banks supported by The Trussel Trust.

In the last year alone, Stockton and Billingham Borough Foodbank has provided nearly 8,000 emergency food supplies to people living locally.

The Middlesbrough Foodbank fed around 12,500 people in 2020.

Helen Winspear, project manager at Stockton and Billingham Borough Foodbank, said: “We strongly believe that no one should ever go hungry.

“That’s why we work tirelessly to ensure the thousands of people who come to us in crisis each year are supported and given emergency food supplies for at least three days.

“We’re so grateful for the donation from Pickerings because it will feed many more hungry mouths and enable us to support even more people in the local community, especially as we approach the Christmas period which is our busiest time of year.”

Pickerings Lifts, a fifth-generation family-owned business, is the UK’s leading lift specialist.

Established over 160 years ago, Pickerings has a national network of depots that specify, design, install, upgrade, maintain and repair all types of lifts, escalators, loading systems and mobility equipment for many different businesses.