A secondary academy in Worksop has helped the community after running a successful food collection drive to help those affected by the recent flooding.

̨��swag Academy Portland, based on Netherton Road, has a tradition of holding food drives in the run-up to Christmas to collect food to donate to the local Bassetlaw Food Bank.

However last year, the academy decided to bring forward its call for food donations from staff and students after the local area was badly affected by flooding following prolonged torrential rain.

Godsway Dzoboku, Principal at ̨��swag Academy Portland, said:

“In November, like many places in the country, the local area was badly affected by the weather. Unfortunately some of our staff and students have had to move to temporary housing because of the damage the flooding has done to their homes.

“At ̨��swag we believe in playing a role in the communities we serve and we felt it was the right thing to do to bring forward our traditional food drive so we could help some of those who were affected by the flooding.”

At the end of November, the academy made a large donation to the Bassetlaw Food Bank thanks to the kindness of the staff, students and parents. 

Bassetlaw Food Bank is a non-profit, charitable organisation which distributes food parcels to people who are suffering genuine hardship and poverty in Bassetlaw and was first opened in 2013.

Godsway added:

“We were happy to be able to help out in November and thanks to the kindness and generosity we were able to deliver our traditional festive December donation to the Bassetlaw Food Bank too so we can continue to help those people that need it.”

This charitable feat is not uncommon at ̨��swag Academy Portland. When inspected in 2014, Ofsted found the academy to be Outstanding and commented that the academy ‘reaches out to the local community.’