Birmingham gas engineers dig deep for food bank appeal

■    Cadent gas engineers across Birmingham chip in to help city foodbank during Covid-19 pandemic

■    Staff donate a van-load of much-needed groceries

■    Engineers among the key workers keeping Birmingham warm and safe

Big-hearted gas engineers across Birmingham have turned the tables on supermarket panic buying by digging deep to donate much-needed food to the city’s Narthex Sparkhill Foodbank.

Nearly 30 staff from gas distributor Cadent have been raiding their cupboards, adding extra items to their shopping trolleys and donating £90 in cash. The appeal was organised by frontline emergency engineer Habib Rehman.

Habib, a First Call Operative from Erdington, was overwhelmed by the response from his colleagues. Together with manager John Capper, he delivered a Cadent van full of donated groceries to the foodbank.

 “I’m so grateful to everyone for their generosity,” said Habib, “colleagues from across Birmingham dug deep to help out. I also received donations from a neighbour and a friend, whose mum died of Covid-19.

“The foodbank was really appreciative. Their supplies were running quite low, so our delivery arrived at just the right time. It’s good to know that we’re helping those most in need at this difficult time.”

Habib and his colleagues are among Cadent’s force of emergency and repair engineers, continuing to work in the community to keep West Midlands residents safe. As key workers, they deal with gas escapes and deadly carbon monoxide leaks and carry out essential maintenance and repairs on the region’s gas network.

Kate Jones, Cadent’s Director of West Midlands Network, said: “This is a fantastic effort by Habib and his colleagues across Birmingham. It’s typical of the response of our staff to the Covid-19 pandemic – they have been quick to help the most vulnerable.

“We know that people rely on us to keep them warm and safe and, as key workers, our staff are on the frontline doing just that. We will continue to deal with gas escapes and deadly carbon monoxide.

“However, we are taking additional precautions to keep our customers and our staff safe, especially if we have to go into people’s homes. You can find out more on our website at https://cadentgas.com/coronavirus.”

Pictured left to right: Cadent's John Capper and Habib Rehman delivering groceries donated by Cadent's Birmingham engineers.