Furness Building Society has donated £4,000 to Barrow Foodbank following a fundraising campaign at its 2025 AGM. 

The building society pledged to provide £1 for every vote cast at its Annual General Meeting to support local families experiencing food poverty due to the continued high cost of living. 

The donation forms part of a commitment from Furness Building Society to draw on its Cumbrian heritage to give back to communities within its heartland. 

Barrow Foodbank provides three days’ nutritionally-balanced emergency food for local people in food crises in Barrow, Ulverston and Millom, which equated to 6232 individuals in 2023. It forms part of a UK-wide network of foodbanks, supported by the Trussell Trust, working to combat poverty and hunger in towns and cities nationwide. 

Statistics from ONS show that fifteen communities in the borough of Barrow are in the twenty percent of the most income deprived in England. 

Anthony Kearney, Marketing Implementation Manager at Furness Building Society, commented: “Using our position as a Barrow-based building society to support people in our heartland is very important to us - but we could not have done this without our members. 

“We understand the pressure local families continue to feel in the face of rising costs and wanted to use our AGM as a means to help. Barrow Foodbank fulfils a vital role in combating hunger and we hope our donation contributes to this invaluable mission.” 

Matthew Burden, Project Manager at Barrow Foodbank commented: “We are so grateful to Furness Building Society and its kind members who cast a vote for us. With £4,000 we can ensure any local people facing food shortage have access to help when they need it, at a time when the cost of living continues to rise.”