VMO2 pilot uses engineer vans to support foodbanks

Virgin Media O2 is working with Neighbourly on an eight-week trial scheme in Bournemouth that see engineers deliver donations from customers to foodbanks in their vans.

The pilot will send Virgin Media customers who have an installation booked a notification of the initiative via an SMS which will provide guidance on items that can be donated. Engineers will then transport these goods to foodbanks, providing a convenient way for people to donate.

The scheme comes in response to an estimated 41% increase in the need for foodbanks over the last three months alone, with one in ten parents expecting to need access to a foodbank this summer.

“At Bournemouth Foodbank we are currently providing food and essentials to over a thousand people a month, a third of which are children,” added said Milly Earl, Fundraising Coordinator, Bournemouth Foodbank.

“This is nearly double the number of people we were helping this time last year. As the price of food has gone up, donations to the Foodbank have gone down.”

“If every customer we visit on a weekly basis in Bournemouth donated just one item of food, it could help feed more than 400 additional people over the course of our trial,” added COO Jeff Dodds.

Customers will also have the option to donate old tech as part of VMO2’s on-going Community Calling scheme, which has so far rehomed more than 10,000 smartphones.