CUSTOMERS shopping at Waitrose in Chippenham have managed to raise almost £600 for a local charity who help the vulnerable and homeless.

Chippenham charity Doorway received a cheque for £595 from Waitrose which was handed over at the Salvation Army’s Christmas lunch last Thursday (December 15).

Melissa Hunt, Community Matters champion with Chippenham Waitrose in the Borough Parade Shopping Centre, said: “We have supported them before, we supported them a couple of years ago as part of our Community Matters scheme.

“We raised the money over two months and we only get a small amount of money each month, £500 which is split between three charities so they’ve done well.

“It’s really good, unfortunately in the last few months we have been able to see homeless people more and more in Chippenham which we’ve not really seen before.”

Doorway, which is based in Chippenham, help homeless and vulnerable people by providing everyday basics such as freshly cooked food and shower facilities.

Lisa Lewis, chief executive of Doorway, said: “Everyone at Doorway is grateful for the phenomenal amount of money raised which will go towards provisions which are very useful at this time of year.

“It’s not the number of people that’s increased but the complexity of people’s issues and the work we are doing more of is stopping evictions and preventing people becoming homeless.

“We need to raise £85,000 every year to run the services and that’s done purely through donations and grants.

“All the money goes on frontline provisions and I think that’s why we’re getting a lot more financial donations.”