A businessman from Bury is helping people face hardship after himself overcoming challenges himself as a young person.
And he hopes by sharing his experiences others will be encouraged to do the same.
Marcus Jeffreys, 56, has donated more than £7,000 to Brandlesholme Community Foodbank, on Brandlesholme Road, since he first got involved with its work in December last year.
Marcus generously donated around £2,000 for food hampers for people in need as well as providing funding for 40 energy cards to help keep people warm over the winter.
Last week, he donated £5,000 to the foodbank to pay for school uniforms for local pupils after noticing a sharp rise in the cost of back-to-school essentials for families.
Marcus, who lives in Greenmount, was born in Brandlesholme and lived there for more than 25 years.
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He said: “I’m from Brandlesholme, from the Holme Avenue estate and it was really, really tough.
“Over the last 12 to 18 months, I’ve really noticed that by no fault of their own, people are really struggling.
Marcus, a former Elton High School pupil has run his own garage refurbishment business, VSF Ltd for the last 15 years.
Due to its success, he and his business partner, Andrew Law decide they wanted “to do something” for their community.
He continued: “What we decided to do is we donated £5,000 and we’ve left it to them to help that need it the most.
“Its an ongoing thing, we want to provide as much help as we can.”
He said his own experience of struggling financially as a young boy in the 1970s and 1980s inspired him to help others as well as the negative impact that he knows poverty can have on the mental health of young people.
“We had no food on the table, and we had no school uniform funds.”
“There is no shame in asking for help,” he said, “If you don’t talk and you hold it in its 10 times worse.”
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“They think its shameful not having any money, it’s not shameful, it’s the way the world is.”
Marcus hopes his act of kindness will encourage other more well-off people to help others in the ways that he has done.
“It’s something that business people should be doing,” Marcus said.
“There are a lot of wealthy people in Bury, and they need some awareness about what’s going on.”
Vice Chair Beth McCrimmon said the contributions Marcus, Andrew and VFS have made to Brandlesholme food bank has been a "godsend."
She continued: "It means we can offer help to more people who are struggling. It means so much and it was a great help.
"When you've got people struggling to eat its not an extra bill that you need.
Beth says the added cost of high school uniforms means the families of secondary school students will be the most in need.
She added that anyone with second hand school uniform in a good condition from nearby schools including Tottington High School, Elton High School and Wood Hey High school can be accepted, as well as nearby primar schools.
"We have already had people asking.
"We don't have any rules, we'll help people regardless of their situation."
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