A FUND to help voluntary groups across the county deal with the effects of the coronavirus pandemic has raised £200,000 in just two weeks.

The Wiltshire Community Foundation’s Coronavirus Response Fund has already made £83,000 worth of grants to voluntary groups across Wiltshire and Swindon.

In the first week of the fund being open for applicants, grants were used by groups to provide hot meals, food parcels, counselling, equipment and staff to help vulnerable and isolated elderly people, young families living in poverty and those suffering stress and anxiety.

The West Wilts Vineyard Church’s Storehouse foodbank in Trowbridge has seen donations fall since the beginning of the pandemic and applied to the Wiltshire Community Foundation for a grant to buy in more supplies.

The church, in Emmanuel’s Yard, has been given £5,000 from the fund to boost its food supplies.

The foodbank, which has been running ten years, has collection points in most of the area’s major supermarkets and regular donations amount to at least a trolley’s worth. But in the last few weeks it has received less than a basketful from each. The foodbank usually gives out up to 40 parcels a week, but the crisis has seen that rise to up to 60.

Pastor Sam Whiley said: “We have had quite a drastic reduction in people giving food at our collection points in supermarkets an increase in demand and we probably only have enough food left for a week-and-a-half. The money will be used to top up our supplies and we are so grateful for it.”

The Hub@BA15 foodbank in Bradford on Avon has been given £5,000. Organiser John Hutchinson said: “Our stock of donated food is insufficient to match the increased demand caused by greater community poverty than we anticipated. We are the central hub to whom our local community looks for support and a co-ordinated response to its needs.”

Wiltshire Scrapstore will use a £2,500 grant to fund 500 art boxes for children of low income or isolated families. Director Jane Wheeler said: “The craft boxes have all the things you need to support home learning.

“We have already sent 60 out, 40 have gone to Longmeadow Primary School in Trowbridge and the same goes for River Mead in Melksham.”

Among the latest supporters is the Zurich Community Trust, which has donated £25,000.

Wiltshire Community Foundation Interim Co-Chief Executive Fiona Oliver said: “We have been absolutely bowled over by the response from the public and from the support of companies like Zurich.

“I’m also very proud of the way our team has responded so quickly to raise this money and then get it out to where it is needed. The need is only going to increase in the coming weeks, and we urgently need the support of the county more than ever to help our vital community groups navigate this unprecedented challenge.”

To donate to Wiltshire Community Foundation’s Wiltshire and Swindon Coronavirus Response Fund or find out how to apply for a grant, go to wiltshirecf.org.uk.