COUNCIL chiefs have revealed more than 2,800 Worcester families will receive food parcels this Christmas
Families of Worcester children who receive free school meals will be offered a free parcel containing approximately £40 worth of food over the festive period.
The cost will be covered by central Government’s new Household Support Fund (HSF) grant, designed to help the most in need this winter meet food, energy and water bills.
Worcester City Council has been allocated £337,000 from this fund which must be spent by March 2022.
£226,720 will be spent in total on delivering food parcels in Worcester this December and during the February 2022 half term.
Worcester Foodbank has recommended each parcel contains breakfast cereals; soup; pasta; rice; pasta sauce; tinned beans; tinned meat; tinned vegetables; tinned fruit; peanut butter; tea or coffee; biscuits or crackers and snacks.
At least ten Worcester schools prepared a total of 1,000 parcels to go out to families this week.
Bishop Perowne CE College put together 370 food parcels, with DHL delivering the contents to the school for free.
Headteacher Jane Price said: “Christmas can be a worrying time for some households, so we’re pleased to be able to provide the food parcels to help alleviate some of this concern.
“Each parcel will include a few Christmas treats, as well as cupboard staples to help families through the holiday period.
“In addition to the grant of £14,800 from Worcester City Council, our school food supplier Almanhall has added £500 meaning we are able to provide 370 of our students with a £40 food parcel – we want to thank both of them for their support.
“A huge thanks to Sainsbury’s in Kidderminster for their help with this and to DHL for collecting and delivering the food to the school. We hope the food parcels help our students to enjoy their Christmas break.”
Like U Worcester a charity which supports minorities in the city from a variety of backgrounds, is preparing 600 parcels while the Oasis Warndon Community Hub is delivering 50 food parcels to local families.
