Council harvest a bumper donation

Merry Christmas (from left: Foodbank volunteer Lisa Leunig, Fateha Khano - Oldham Council Foodbank Co-ordinator, Councillor Barbara Brownridge, Simon Shuttleworth - Oldham Council Neighbourhoods Team)

KINDHEARTED council staff have done their bit to make Christmas a bit more merry for struggling Oldham families.

For the third year in a row, employees have collected hundreds of kilos of food to hand over to Oldham Foodbank.

Donation stations were set up in council buildings across the borough with many employees doing their bit and handing over non-perishable food.

The foodbank, in Clegg Street, is run by a dedicated group of 30 part-time volunteers.

From September, 2013, to November this year, 6,574 food vouchers were handed out to Oldham residents, with 30 per cent of these going to families with children.

This year the council has worked closely with partners such as the Clinical Commissioning Group, Citizens Advice Bureau and Oldham Community Leisure to help increase the support given to the foodbank during this busy period in the run-up to Christmas.

The council offers further support via the Employer Supported Volunteering (ESV) scheme which gives employees the opportunity to volunteer with voluntary, community and charitable groups in Oldham for a period of up to three days.

Councillor Barbara Brownridge, cabinet member for neighbourhoods and co-operatives, said: “The council works hard to support our residents and we are committed to working with other organisations to help families facing hardship.

“I’m delighted and proud that we’ve been able to donate such a huge amount of food during the Christmas appeal

“It is very sad that anyone in this country should have to rely on foodbanks to feed their families at any time of the year, but we hope the food donations will go some way to helping people in real need this Christmas.”

Oldham Foodbank is run by volunteers from local churches, led by St Margaret’s in Hollinwood, as part of The Trussell Trust Foodbank Network.

For more details visit the website at www.oldham.foodbank.org.uk.