North West ecommerce and technology group, THG, has announced a £10m aid package to support vulnerable communities, key workers and the emergency services during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Half of the cash will go directly to Manchester, with £1m split between We Love MCR’s Covid-19 community response fund; and the Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity, which helps homeless people.
It will also provide £4m worth of critical products and services, which will be distributed across key sites in the region, including NHS staff on the frontline and vulnerable people in the region. These include essential vitamins, foods, supplements, personal care and hygiene products.
The remaining £5m of aid is being delivered to areas outside of the North West, including international markets.
The group said that over recent weeks it had seen major online demand for these products, which resulted in 500 new manufacturing and distribution jobs across its UK, European, US and Asia operations.
“This incredibly generous donation by The Hut Group shows Greater Manchester business at its best. These are challenging times for us all and it means so much to see one of our most successful home-grown companies stepping forward and giving back to our communities,” said Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham.
“The Hut Group’s support will enable us to provide better support to homeless people as well as recognise the selfless work of our heroic NHS staff and other frontline workers. I hope this announcement will provide inspiration to other businesses to do what they can to help us get through this together.”
THG has transformed part of its manufacturing capability to produce hand sanitisers to help meet the exceptional global demand, and will be giving away £1m worth of sanitisers to people who otherwise can’t access them, as part of the aid package.
