The company has linked up with Uttoxeter’s Covid-19 Support Group by supplying them with 200 sandwich packs every week for inclusion in food parcels delivered to vulnerable people in the area.

JCB is also supplying the St. Michael’s Church Support Group in Rocester with 100 meals a week as it works with villagers who are elderly and unable to leave their property as well as families who are in desperate need.

Since the launch of the ‘Food for our Communities’ programme – the idea of Lady Bamford, wife of JCB Chairman Lord Bamford – JCB has provided thousands of meals – including cottage pies, macaroni cheese and bolognese - for disadvantaged people across the area. The scheme has been expanded to include the supply of sandwiches, including 500 every week for distribution across Stoke-on-Trent, including the homeless.

Phil Irons|Founder of the Uttoxeter Covid-19 Support Group

The Rev. Liz Jones, Vicar of Rocester, said: “It is wonderful the way JCB is reaching out to the village because the company is a big part of the fabric of our community. It’s another example of people in the village pulling together to help one another.”

The Uttoxeter Covid-19 Support Group was set up to connect wanting to volunteer with families and individuals needing help. Since its formation, it has been working closely with the Helping Hands Food Bank and Uttoxeter Town Football Club, who are now helping distribute the JCB sandwiches. The football club includes them in food parcels it delivers to vulnerable and self-isolating people as part of a daily collection and delivery of prescriptions.

JCB’s ‘Food for our Communities’ initiative started more than three weeks ago with the company’s catering staff in the UK and India preparing more than 37,500 meals a week for distribution around towns and villages located close to its plants.

JCB’s kitchens in Staffordshire are being supported with the provision of food from organic farms at Daylesford in Gloucestershire. So far, Daylesford – founded by Lady Bamford - has supplied more than half a tonne of organic beef mince to the project, with staff working seven days a week to support the food aid initiative.

In the UK, JCB is also working with the The Hubb Foundation in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, to distribute food to children and families, as well as Stoke-on-Trent City Council, which is distributing JCB meals to vulnerable adults and children across the city.