Money set aside for oil industry Christmas parties which were scrapped this winter has now been ploughed into north-east charities.
Staff and management at Subsea 7 felt funds reserved for the celebrations and office events should be given to community initiatives this year instead.
The firm has donated £5,000 to both Aberdeenshire North foodbank and Community Food Initiatives North East (CFine) as well as £3,000 to Aberdeen Cyrenians.
Another £2,000 has been split between smaller organisations.
Subsea 7 senior vice-president, Steve Wisely, hopes the donations can help “ease the challenges many local people are facing”.
He said: “I am really pleased that our colleagues have transformed the disappointment they felt from not being able to work and celebrate together over Christmas, and delighted to have donated funds to help people in desperate need during the pandemic.”
Aberdeenshire North runs foodbanks in Ellon, Fraserburgh, Huntly, Inverurie and Peterhead.
Manager Debbie Rennie said the charity is “extremely grateful” for the support which comes after its “most demanding year by far”.
Fiona Rae, CFine’s depute chief executive, said: “The donation will help us maintain our support services benefitting hundreds of individuals and families every week.”
And the £3,000 to Aberdeen Cyrenians will directly help victims of homelessness, domestic abuse and social exclusion.
Its communications coordinator, Emily Mackenzie, added: “We’ve seen a staggering increase in demand for our services since the beginning of the first lockdown, and whilst we have had to change the way we provide help to keep people safe, we want everyone to know that all our support and services are still there and available.”
