Bus drivers from local bus operator First Aberdeen have clubbed together to donate items to their local food bank following concerns that stocks in the city were running low. 
 
Under their own initiative, the drivers set up a food donation area in their Control Room at First Aberdeen’s King Street headquarters.
 
And they appealed to colleagues to join in under a month-long ‘Food Bank Friday’ initiative, asking them to leave whatever non-perishable items they could at the end of the working week.
 
First Aberdeen has also agreed to further support the drivers’ efforts by donating 100 free bus tickets to help local families in need get around.
 
The items were delivered to CFINE (Community Food Initiatives North East) food bank by school bus driver Ian Hay, who championed the idea.
 
He said: 'It’s a sad fact that there are a lot of people out there who are struggling – homeless people, unemployed people and even working families on low wages who are finding it hard to feed their children properly.
 
'They all need a bit of help from those of us who are just that bit better off.
 
'I had been making regular donations of items to a food bank in Aberdeen for some time when one of the volunteers there asked me if other people at First had ever considered helping out. It got me thinking, so I filled in a form and put it in the staff suggestion box. 
 
'The next thing I knew was that the company had agreed to have a food bank collection point to allow staff could make donations.
 
'It’s working really well and we are passing on lots of stuff to the local food bank and we’re encouraging even more colleagues to get involved and to make regular donations of non-perishable food.'
 
First Aberdeen Managing Director David Phillips said: 'I’m incredibly proud of our drivers and their efforts to support their local community.
 
'We’re aware that relying on food banks is the only option for a number of families in our local area, which is why I’m delighted to also be able to pass on a hundred free travel tickets to help those in need of a little extra support.'
 
It is estimated that 913,138 people used food banks in the UK last year. Items suitable include tinned goods, cereals, rice, pasta, pasta sauce, cartons of UHT milk and long-life fruit juices.
 
First Aberdeen is the largest bus operator in the city. More than 175 of its buses transport around 50,000 people every day across Aberdeen.