A St Albans family have donated toilet roll to a homelessness charity following a desperate appeal for supplies as store shelves continue to be emptied by panic buyers.

Herts Advertiser: The Robinson family were the first to donate to Emmaus Hertfordshire after the appeal. Picture: Emmaus HertfordshireThe Robinson family were the first to donate to Emmaus Hertfordshire after the appeal. Picture: Emmaus Hertfordshire (Image: Archant)

Emmaus Hertfordshire put out a plea for toilet rolls on March 16 after its regular food delivery was missing the essentials as a result of panic buying.

Within minutes, the Robinson family knocked on the door to donate a pack of four rolls to the charity – and since then over 280 rolls have been donated.

Bunzl, a cleaning and hygiene supplies company, rushed to the charity’s aid and delivered a huge pack containing 120 rolls.

The Hygiene Bank St Albans and Harpenden have also been supporting Emmaus Hertfordshire by providing toiletries and bottles of hand wash to the Emmaus residents.

Jennifer Hewson, business development manager for Emmaus Hertfordshire said: “We were a little horrified to find not one toilet roll in our order last week, and the company we ordered from couldn’t advise us when stocks would be available.

“Apparently, it was because of the huge increase in demand as a result of the coronavirus panic buying.

“This left our residential operation in a tricky situation as we needed enough toilet roll for our 32 residents for a week if not longer.

“We sent out a number of our staff searching for rolls in local shops but with little success, so we turned to our brilliant Facebook supporters and we weren’t disappointed.

“The post was seen by 15,000 people and shared over 60 times.

“Our customers and supporters have just been fantastic in what is such a difficult time for our charity.

“We are just really glad that we can prevent 32 formerly homeless people from having to experience this pandemic on the streets.”

As a result of panic buying, most supermarkets have restricted the number of products each customer can purchase.

They have also created specific time slots for elderly and NHS staff to shop, so they can purchase the essentials before shelves are emptied.

If you or someone you know is homeless or at risk of becoming homeless and would like to enquire about a space at an Emmaus community, visit emmaus.org.uk/get-help.