Members of Swindon’s Hindu community have raised £3,000 for a Swindon foodbank in just over a month during a special coronavirus campaign.

Donations flooded in when the charity Hindu Samaj Swindon sent out an appeal to its members at the start of May.

This week the organisation presented Swindon Food Collective with a four-figure cheque.

Chairman of the organisation Siddharth Patel said: “During the current coronavirus pandemic emergency, we recognised that there is a need to help the homeless and those who struggled to meet their demand for food and other basic daily necessities.

“So HSS organised a campaign to seek donations from its members and friends to collect for the foodbank in Swindon.

“We were really amazed at what we have been able to raise and grateful to those who donated,” he added.

“Initially the money came in trickles, but then it soon escalated into people donating large sums.”

The charity originally set itself a fundraising target of £1,000, but was able to soon double this and finally handed over three times what it had hoped to raise.

Siddharth continued: “We chose the foodbank because it is one of the largest organisations that we know of that helps those in need and feeds thousands of people across Swindon and the surrounding area.

“We found out that demand has really increased during lockdown and that there was a serious need that needed to be filled in.”

He explained that one of the mottos of the Hindu faith, “Sewa”, means providing selfless service.

“It is a basic principle of what Hinduism is all about,” said Siddharth.

“It means that you put others before you and it’s something ingrained in the majority of Hindus.

“Since its establishment HSS has been offering Sewa to its members, the Swindon community and national and international organisations where we identify a need and where we can provide financial support.”

Alongside the final donation one member family has donated 1,100 vegetarian lunchboxes to frontline workers and homeless organisations during lockdown.

HSS was established in 1973, from a smaller group called the East African Indians Association, comprising a few families who had arrived in Swindon from Uganda in 1972. As the community grew and new families settled in the town, HSS has come to boast more than 400 members today.

To also donate to the foodbank visit: www.gofundme.com/f/raising-fund-for-swindon-food-collective?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1