The company behind such famous household cleaning brands as Nurofen, Strepsils and Dettol is donating more than half a million pounds to charities in Slough and surrounding areas of Berkshire and Bucks.

Charities to benefit from the donation by Reckitt Benckiser (RB) include Slough Council for Voluntary Service (CVS) which has been supporting a range of volunteer groups during the lockdown

Jaime Green, chairman of Slough CVS said: “Over the last 11 weeks we have delivered a weekly shopping service to 249 households, 927 families have been supported with regular food, 1,957 families have been supported by food bank and 5,621 prescriptions have been delivered. We were delighted when RB contacted us to offer their help during COVID-19.”

The donation will allow Slough Foodbank to provide more than 2,000 families access to urgent food products and Slough Community Transport (SCT) to provide 3,400 prescriptions over the next six months.

RB is also providing urgent support to other local charities, so they can continue to provide their services at this critical time.

That includes mental health support (Mind), protecting the most vulnerable including children with life-limiting and life-threatening conditions (Sebastian’s Action Trust), supporting families with young children (Home-Start), and helping the elderly (Age UK) who are facing increasing loneliness and stress during the pandemic.

RB is based in Bath Road, Slough and is a global leader in hygiene, health and nutrition.

Susan Egstrand, Regional General Manager for RB in the UK said: "The most vulnerable in our society have been the hardest hit by the pandemic, so we are proud to be able to give something back with the help of these amazing charities, who have themselves been put under significant strain as a result of the crisis.

“The pandemic has had implications on the lives of many, with people suffering from lack of food , financial difficulty, mental health issues, isolation and education challenges. We hope these funds can help alleviate some of these issues in our local area.”