A funeral home has raised thousands of pounds for the borough’s homeless charity.

As part of a national scheme, the branches of Co-op Food and Funeral Care in the borough chose three charities in the area to support every six months, so has been raising money for Hope4Havering, the Redbridge Forum and Contact the Elderly.

Everytime a member of Co-op staff used their membership card to buy Co-op branded food products in store, 5pc would go onto their card as credit and 1pc would go towards the three charities.

The staff managed to raise more than £6,000 for the cause.

Funeral director and Havering’s community lead Christopher Saunders said: “Personally, I feel it is important to help the homeless of havering and as well as raising money for this charity it is nice to raise awareness.

“It’s important for people to learn about what they do, and it is fantastic that the Co-op and their members are putting back into the community in which they are part of.”