A County Durham company has launched a nationwide collection for foodbanks in celebration of its 20th anniversary.

Pacifica, which specialises in domestic appliance repairs, is based in Houghton-le-Spring and has committed to donating 10,000 items to food banks.

The workforce of nearly 500 people is being encouraged to nominate foodbanks of their choice.

Every month for the next year four foodbanks will be selected.

The workers whose charity is chosen will be given the opportunity to collect the items from their local supermarket and deliver them to the foodbank personally.

Kevin Brown, CEO of Pacifica, said: "As a business for change we are committed to supporting the communities we serve, and we are proud to introduce this additional foodbank initiative as we mark Pacifica’s 20th anniversary.

"We wanted to allow colleagues to have a say in where we send our donations as well as giving them paid time away from work to deliver the food parcels and see first-hand the positive impact foodbanks have on communities across the country.

"We are a firm believer in the difference foodbanks make and donations are needed now, more than ever as many households tackle the cost-of-living crisis.

"The demand for foodbanks has risen massively in recent years and they are struggling to keep up with demand, so we hope our contribution will be of help."

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This initiative runs alongside Pacifica’s continuing support of FareShare, which is the UK’s national network of charitable food redistributors.

It takes good quality surplus produce from the food industry and retailers and gets it to frontline charities and community groups.

Pacifica has been making monthly financial donations to FareShare and during 2022 it enabled the redistribution of enough food for the equivalent of 24,000 meals.