Staff at John Lewis’ office in Blantyre have supported local charities after recently moving from their premises in Stanley Boulevard to a much smaller office space as a result of most Partners working from home since Covid.

Alison Forrest, John Lewis’ operations manager, said: “Downsizing to the new office gave us the opportunity to sell excess equipment, and alongside some charity collections we had made, we were able to hand out £1,715 to local charities which we've supported in the past"

Jaqueline McEwan, John Lewis’ Community Matters Champion, added: “We had worked with LEAP before, helping to fund a lunch for volunteers and clients and, when we heard about the charity’s move into keeping community premises open, it seemed an ideal way to use some of the money.”

Alison and Jacqueline McEwan handed LEAP director Stuart McGregor £750 toward the cost of refurbishing the charity’s latest community hub in the former Halfway Library.

Stuart said: “We are really grateful to the John Lewis team for thinking about us.

“Making our community hubs fit for purpose and sustainable will cost quite a bit and we can put this donation toward the refurbishment.

“We hope to have the new Halfway Community Hub open in September and we would be delighted if Alison and Jacqueline could come back then to see how their donation helped make that happen.”