Colleagues and the general public have been donating Easter eggs and chocolates to be gifted to families through local foodbanks with more than 650 sweet treats collected from the campaign this year.

Angela Linton, chief executive at Hillcrest, said: “With many families struggling in the areas that Hillcrest and Thorntons operate in, as part of our continuous efforts to do all we can to support them we were keen to do what we could to bring some Easter cheer too.

“Following our call for donations of Easter treats, we’ve been delighted with the fantastic response, and the donation boxes in our offices were quickly overflowing. We’d like to thank everyone who kindly donated and helped make our Easter appeal such a huge success.”

Graham Wilson, social housing partner at Thorntons, said: “Not all families are fortunate enough to receive chocolate eggs and other sweet treats that others take for granted every year, so we’re proud to be able to lend our support.

“We’d like to thank our colleagues, clients and the local community, for their generous contributions.”