A NEW van has been unveiled by Harry Redknapp at a food bank after more than £26,000 was raised to help the charity meet rising demand.

Poole Foodbank volunteer Josh Mitchell summited Mount Kilimanjaro in September after he began fundraising in January.

The money he raised was put towards a new bigger van which will help increase capacity and efficiency.

The van was unveiled and a cheque for £26,100 was presented to the food bank at a special ceremony with Harry Redknapp on Tuesday, November 7.

Josh said the new van is ‘much better’ as it can carry more than double the food that the previous one could.

Bournemouth Echo: Josh with the new van.

“I didn’t expect to raise so much money when I set out to do this in January. It’s blown my mind really,” he said.

“It just avoids unnecessary to-ing and fro-ing so you can be quicker, more efficient and do things in volume.”

The van features a message saying ‘hakuna matata’, which Josh said means ‘no worries’ and was an important part of his challenge.

“Everyone’s attitude that works at Poole Foodbank, this is why they are so amazing. I’m just a tiny part of that,” Josh said.

“Their attitude is exactly that – no worries. Nothing’s ever too much, no trouble, no problem, we can do it.”

Bournemouth Echo: Josh at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro.

The 32-year-old encouraged everyone to give back by volunteering, saying he had met one of his closest friends since he started volunteering nearly two years ago.

“If you can, the benefits are huge,” Josh said.

“We never want to be short of volunteers, we always want to actively promote, we want more volunteers.

“It’s so rewarding, not just because you’re giving back but actually from the people you’re surrounding yourself with and working with. That’s a really nice part of the whole thing.

“They’re all heroes.”

Gill Payne, manager at Poole Foodbank, said: “The Poole Foodbank Team were pleased to welcome Mr Harry Redknapp to the launch of the new Poole Foodbank Van. Harry's support for all that we do to help the Poole community is really appreciated.

“As the result of his fundraising climb of Mt Kilimanjaro, Josh Mitchell presented a cheque for £26,100 which enabled us to purchase the larger van to accommodate the increased demands on Poole Foodbank.

“In addition to donations of food, Poole Foodbank relies on financial donations to keep functioning and we are so thankful for every offer of support.”