Parcel company DPD has made a special delivery for North Staffordshire-based Alice Charity.

The  company has donated a van to the charity which will be used to deliver much needed furniture and white goods to vulnerable families across Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme.

The vehicle is a vital part of the Pass It On service provided by Alice Charity in response to an ever increasing need for basic household items for struggling families. Alice charity has recruited a Pass it On project manager to expand this project.

Emily Petts, Alice’s family support director, said: “Pass It On has been helping families across North Staffordshire for several years, but we are experiencing more and more demand and have responded by extending the service.

“Previously, we have struggled to keep up with demand, simply because we had limited storage space and little capacity to deliver goods.

“This fantastic gesture from DPD, coupled with our investment in warehousing, will make a real difference to families needing support – a sector which is growing even more as job losses filter through due to the current coronavirus pandemic.”

The donation of a van is the latest factor in a growing partnership between Alice Charity and DPD. The company, based in the Etruria Valley, has adopted Alice as its charity partner and have lent Alice the services of drivers to help the charity over the past 12 months.

Michael Austin of DPD Group said: “We chose to help Alice Charity because it is local to our depot and helps people in situations that they find themselves in through no fault of their own.

“Alice isn’t burdened with red tape and this allows them to respond immediately to families who need their urgent help.

“We started to assist when they needed someone to effectively distribute the donations without incurring costs. Our drivers gave up their Saturdays free of charge to deliver and collect the donated items directly to families.

“We also arrange collections of food items for Alice’s People’s Pantry, in Newcastle town centre.

“However, without a dedicated delivery service, Alice were having to turn down items which were much needed by local families.

The van helps them to solve this problem and become even more responsive to the community’s needs.

“It is a small donation from DPD which will enable Alice to step up their services. We will continue to support in any way we can in the future.”

Signability, of Fenton, have provided a vehicle wrap service to brand the donated Pass It On van.

Emily said: “We are extremely grateful for support from the local business community because it supports our staff in helping families who need our support. The new van means that we can provide a responsive service as, if someone offers a donation, we can either collect it and deliver it to a family or collect and store it in our new warehouse, ready for delivery. There is a huge demand and we wanted to do more. ”

Alice Charity supports children and families within the communities of Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-Under-Lyme, in times of crisis.  They work with  vulnerable families, often over many months, to develop both independence and resilience, breaking the cycle of poverty and ensuring that the impacts from hardship have minimal effect on the children. See www.alicecharity.com.

The DPD Group  operates DPD Pickup, based in Stoke, and operates a £12m, 60,000 sq. ft. distribution centre, at Etruria, providing a  service to the city and the surrounding area including the Peak District and as far afield as Chester and Telford.

ENDS