Lawyer offers services for free to get food to those in need

A lawyer has offered his services for free to ensure people in food poverty got enough to eat.

Jonathan Watts, a partner and commercial property expert at FSM Solicitors in Chippenham, worked with Malmesbury and District Foodbank to secure lease on a new warehouse from which to operate.

The work was carried out pro bono, offering this charitable cause specialist legal advice to ensure a suitable lease was agreed.

The Foodbank had been operating out of a small area at the back of the Malmesbury United Reformed Church and an adjacent garage. 

The cramped space became extremely difficult during the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, as more donations flooded in and demand for support escalated. 

Gill Smith, project manager at Malmesbury and District Foodbank, said: “We simply had nowhere to put anything and no space in which to work. 

“We knew that a warehouse system would work because many other foodbanks operate in that way.  It would relieve some of the pressure we were facing.”

After much planning, the new 40ft warehouse eventually arrived on the back of a lorry at a location on the outskirts of Malmesbury.

The new warehouse allowed the foodbank to deliver 180 food hampers in time for Christmas.

For more information, or to donate to the foodbank, contact https://malmesburydistrict.foodbank.org.uk