A PEMBROKESHIRE food bank has been given its largest ever donation from workers at a local refinery.

Shift workers from the operations department at Valero Pembroke Refinery have donated £25,000 to Patch (Pembrokeshire action to combat hardship) to help those in need who are struggling during this difficult time.

This act of generosity will help provide local families in Pembrokeshire with the necessities that they need while the lockdown continues and beyond.

Tracy Olin from Patch said: “When Valero called I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“We have never received such a large donation, and it’s almost half of our total income for last year.

“This will help so much as we’ve seen such an increase in clients and we’ve had to change some of the way we do things to make sure all that need to can access our donations.

“This has all put a financial strain on our work. We cannot thank the staff enough for their continued support.”

Western Telegraph:

Stephen Thornton, public affairs manager at Valero said: “The shift workers from the Valero are delighted to be able to make this donation.

“Patch are at the front line in delivering provisions and the Ops team have collectively decided to donate towards helping families who are disadvantaged in our local community.

“We are all in this together and everyone is keen to help.

“The health and safety of our communities come first for us and we stand side by side and shoulder to shoulder with everyone.”

The refinery has also been donating vital personal protective equipment to NHS workers and care workers at The Paul Sartori Foundation to help combat the spread of Covid-19

Face masks, goggles, safety glasses, gloves and visors have been donated to the critical care unit and the midwifery unit at Withybush Hospital, as well as local GP surgeries and Paul Sartori for nurses providing palliative care.

Western Telegraph:

Mr Thornton said of the donations: “Everyone at Pembroke Refinery is committed to helping the community in any way we can.

“Our local health professionals are the front line in this battle and everyone must help to ensure that they are well provisioned as long as this pandemic lasts.”

Every Thursday Valero’s site alarm sounds in tribute to the workers of the NHS.