TRAVELLERS provided an early Christmas present for Stratford Food Bank.
Volunteers were surprised to find five full trolleys of food when they arrived at the foodbank yesterday (Wednesday).
The gypsy and traveller community in the district made the donation as part of the #foodbankchallenge. The challenge encourages people to fill a trolley full of goods, donate to a foodbank and post a picture to social media using the hashtag. They then nominate someone else to take on the challenge.
Gypsies and travellers across the UK have taken to the challenge to raise awareness of food poverty, and help those struggling to make ends meet this Christmas.
Stratford Foodbank has thanked the community in Stratford and others for their ‘kindhearted’ donations, on social media.
Manager Marion Homer said: “We are really grateful for all the donations particularly to travellers. It really does make a huge difference.”
She added the foodbank’s collection bins in some of the Birmingham Road supermarkets had been overflowing since the challenge took the community by storm a few days ago.
The foodbank has seen a rise in people needing its help this winter. The roll-out of universal credit – the replacement of various allowances replaced with a single monthly payment – is thought to be responsible.
The team is hosting a three-day food drive from today until Saturday at Tesco on Birmingham Road.
Search Stratford Foodbank on Facebook for more information.
