Wolverhampton Council praises Wolves and Marstons for food hub help

WV Active Aldersley was transformed by the authority into a distribution hub to help the most vulnerable in the city.

Hundreds of Wolverhampton Council workers, along with support from Marstons and Wolverhampton Wanderers FC, has led to 1,000 food parcels being delivered.

Councillor Ian Brookfield, leader of the local authority, said: "I am bowled over by the support from Marstons and Wolves – two of our biggest and best local partners.

"The council could quite simply not have got this hub operational as quickly as we have without their support which has gone over and above.

"These are two companies which are part and parcel of the fabric of our city and when the call came to help, they stepped up to the mark.

"On behalf of the vulnerable people who are now benefitting from food parcels, I want to thank them for their amazing support.

"Wolverhampton has rightly won national plaudits for our response to this crisis and it is a result of our community pulling together as one city."

The council approved Marstons for advice on logistics when setting up the hub, with the company – which delivers to 13,000 outlets each week – responding quickly to help.

The firm also provided the hub with motorised pallet trucks as well as thousands of toilet rolls, which would normally have been used in Marstons pubs, to be included in the food parcels.

The company also provided the use of its software to help plan and manage the emergency deliveries.

David Nijs, Marstons director of logistics, said “The council asked Marstons for our assistance and we dropped everything to help because we understood the importance of the extremely important task the council has undertaken. It is fantastic we were able to help.”

Wolves has allowed the council to make use of its "dome" building which is located next to WV Active Aldersley and is now providing space for staff training.