A £2,370 donation has been made to the Vale Foodbank following the success of the Cyd Cymru collective energy switching scheme.

Vale Council leader Cllr Neil Moore along with cabinet colleagues councillors Stuart Egan and Gwyn John, visited the distribution centre in Barry to deliver the cheque and donate bags of food.

The energy scheme launched in 2013 and so far more than 5,000 people have registered with the scheme which uses collective buying power to negotiate a range of unique, money saving tariffs, resulting in an average saving of £185 per household.

As part of the Cyd Cymru Scheme, money is paid into a community fund and to date, £19,000 has been raised which is being distributed amongst participating local authorities.

The Vale Council’s share will help combat the effects of fuel poverty with the money being split equally between the four Trussel Trust Foodbanks in the area, based at Tennyson Road and St Mary’s Church in Barry as well as Dinas Powys and Llantwit Major.

Cllr Moore said: “It is a sad reflection on today’s society that we need food banks to help some of the most vulnerable people in our community. When we received our share of the fund we decided that we would donate any money the Vale received to foodbanks in the county. I am therefore delighted to be able to give them a cheque for £2,370.53 to help them continue their invaluable work.”