First published on 24/06/24

After hearing that Taylor Swift was making anonymous donations to charities - specifically food banks, in cities she was visiting, before she arrived in Cardiff, where I was based and writing for WalesOnline, I approached every food bank in the city and surrounding areas in order to get the exclusive announcement if she chose to donate to one in south Wales. When the time came and Taylor’s team reached out to one, Cardiff Foodbank, I was contacted straight away by the charity and able to be the first to announce their exciting news, and later delve into the difference it would make with this piece.

The CEO of the charity Rachel Biggs shared that the donation couldn't have come at a more important time, noting: "It's not the kind of call you expect to take really so it was a bit of a surprise, but brilliant to have the support. It's going to make a huge difference.

At the moment for us, we are currently spending £6,000 a month on food, to top up the donations that are kindly made by the general public, but the need for it is going up and our spending is going up. Obviously the donation is fantastic and it supports our work but it's also about raising the profile, and it shines a light on poverty in Wales."

Walking through the huge warehouse full of food donations in Splott, Cardiff, Rachel added: "It gives us an opportunity to raise our profile and work with people to say - this isn't right. We don't want to be here. So the donation is going to support us to continue to feed people for as long as we need it, but also to work to a future where we don't need a food bank. Usually when people come in here they are really hit by the size of the food bank. The fact that we exist here, and on such a large basis is saddening to people when they visit- and that comes across when they see it for the first time because it shows the scale of the problem."

Read the full piece here.