CARING Worcester residents have helped staff at the city’s Foodbank hand out 7,500 meals to hungry clients during its busiest ever December.
Worcester Foodbank’s Reverse Advent Calendar appeal sparked an outpouring of generosity which enabled its hard-working volunteers to provide more than 260 struggling households with Christmas hampers packed with festive goodies and food.
More than 170 children living in food poverty also woke up on Christmas Day to find a surprise present provided through foodbank’s Christmas Toy appeal.
Grahame Lucas, Worcester Foodbank Manager, praised the extraordinary festive goodwill of local people which has helped the charity and said: “It was wonderful to see our Reverse Advent Calendar appeal capture the imagination of people of all ages.
“During December we received 14 tonnes of food, which is nothing short of extraordinary”
“That has left us in good shape to cope with what we expect to be a bleak winter for the growing number of people who simply cannot afford to feed themselves or their families.”
Financial difficulties caused by benefit delays or low incomes triggered a 38 per cent spike in referrals to foodbank during December, compared to the final few weeks of 2015.
Overall, demand for emergency food parcels has risen by 35 per cent during the past 12 months with foodbank having provided around 55,000 meals to more than 5,270 clients.
