A BUILDING society is appealing for help from its staff and customers after starting a collection in aid of a food bank in the city.

Yorkshire Building Society, which has its headquarters in Bradford, wants to bolster the supplies at the city's original food bank.

Its branch in Bank Street is accepting donations of non-perishable items that will then be given to the Bradford Metropolitan Food Bank to help people struggling to buy food and other essentials.

A wide range of items including tinned food, pasta and biscuits have already been collected by staff but, after being named as an official collection point, the branch is hoping further donations are just around the corner.

Sarah Ainge, who is a mortgage adviser at the branch, said: "We’re really pleased to be helping our local food bank and hope it will make it easier for people who want to help, but perhaps can’t get to Bradford Metropolitan Food Bank, to be able to pop in and donate an item or two.

"We’ve made a great start but I really hope members of the public and some of our customers will pay us a visit with whatever they can spare to make a difference to people in difficulty in our community."

Bradford Metropolitan Food Bank provides emergency food parcels to organisations working with vulnerable people in need of food, and works with charitable organisations who serve free meals in the city.

Keith Thomson, who volunteers at the food bank, said: "We bring hope to those in need by providing emergency food parcels and deeply appreciate the help from organisations like Yorkshire Building Society – we can’t thank them enough for agreeing to be another collection point in the city."

The Bank Street branch is open for donations of non-perishable items such as tinned foods, tea, coffee and toiletries, on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays between 9am and 5pm, Wednesdays between 9.30am and 5pm, and on Saturdays from 9am until 1pm.