One of North Wales’s busiest food banks in one of the UK’s most deprived areas has been boosted with a donation with a difference from the office of a local law firm.

Staff at Swayne Johnson’s branch in St Asaph have supported Rhyl Food Bank Christmas Appeal with a Reverse Advent Calendar – with each person taking part allocated an item to donate from a list of foods and Christmas treats.

That combined with many seasonal extras has added up to a Yuletide sack of succulent goodies, from staples like pasta, instant mashed potatoes, tinned vegetables and tea bags to Christmas cakes and puds, chocolates, biscuits and mince pies.

That was all very welcome for the team at the food bank at the Christian Centre on Rhyl’s Sussex Street where it has helped bolster the impressive stock of supplies at a time of the year when it is most needed.

The Food Bank, which is affiliated to the Trussell Trust, was founded in September 2019 by Sussex St Christian Centre and is in the heart of Rhyl West in an area again named last month as the most deprived in Wales.

It has become a major operation with a monthly running cost of £10,000 providing up to 45 food parcels a week for those in the severest hardship.

They also run a café open to all which provides recipe and nutritional information, help with debt and financial advice, and a Food Club whose members pay an initial £5 membership and then £5 per visit for a selection of foodstuffs worth considerably more. The Food Club receives up to 60 visits a week.

Swayne Johnson Legal Assistant Janette Barton said: “The staff in the St Asaph office have been supporting the food bank here for the last three years after one of our colleagues suggested we do the reverse advent calendar to support the Food Bank.

“Everyone has joined in and for the Reverse Advent Calendar instead of opening up a calendar and getting a piece of chocolate we allocate what each person has to bring in but everyone also adds some extras.

“So they’ve cleared out the cupboards at home and because it’s Christmas they’ve also bought some extra treats.”

Food Bank Manager Alison Thornton welcomed the connection with Swayne Johnson and said: “It’s really important to us to have support from firms like Swayne Johnson and it does make us feel that people in the area are behind what we’re doing.

“I have been involved here since it opened in 2019 and Rhyl does have many issues including the fact that a number of people are put up at hotels here with minimal cooking facilities.

“That means we have to design some parcels so that everything in them can be prepared using a kettle and a microwave – or even just a kettle.

“That’s not unique to us but it is something that affects us to a greater extent than other local towns.

“Since we’ve opened the Food Club we have seen slightly fewer people needing emergency supplies but demand can be seasonal and can depend on things like when people receive their heating payments.

“The food club is a more sustainable, regular and tailored to people’s taste because they can choose the food they have and the meals they eat rather than just having a handout.”

Swayne Johnson Managing Director Lynette Viney-Passig said: “Our staff at St Asaph were really keen to do the Reverse Advent Calendar again and have again put together a real mix of staple foods and Christmas treats.

“Rhyl Food Bank do a fantastic job in an area which is one of the most deprived in the UK and here at Swayne Johnson we do encourage our staff to be involved with local charities and organisations in the communities in which we operate.

“It’s one of the reasons we have also set up the Swayne Johnson Charity Fund to make it easier for applications to be made to us for help.”

For more on Swayne Johnson, including how apply to their Charity Fund, go to http://www.swaynejohnson.com/ and for information on Rhyl Foodbank go to https://rhyl.foodbank.org.uk/