Foodbank donations welcomed through community partnership

A Staffordshire foodbank has received a generous donation after partnership working between a local primary school and housing association.

Highfields Primary School in Burntwood, has donated 15 bags of food, drink and household items to Cannock & District Foodbank which is based at Emmanuel New Life Church in the town. Everything from biscuits, to canned fruit and veg, to pasta was handed over recently by headteacher Mark Wilkes following a Harvest Festival assembly where parents and pupils donated items to the good cause.

Neighbourhood coach Gemma Davis is one of our foodbank champions and has a son, Miller, 11, who attends the school. She suggested the annual donation could be redirected to the local Burntwood branch after experiencing a growing demand in the town.

“The school is so generous year after year and being a foodbank champion for our customers, I thought it would be great to see that generosity stay in the immediate vicinity which is why I was delighted to join the school in making this important donation which demonstrates yet again what a great community ethos we have in Burntwood,” she said.

Mr Wilkes was joined by Miller and his best friend Lucas, 10, when he visited the foodbank to deliver the items. He said: “As a school in Burntwood, we feel it’s important to support those that live in our community. The generosity of our parents and children is something we are very proud of. We hope our donation goes a small way to making a difference.”

The foodbank, run by the Trussell Trust, was established in December 2012 and in the last calendar year volunteers handed out 342 food vouchers helping 850 households in the local area.

Jean Hopkins, one of 10 volunteers at the foodbank, added: “We see such a range of people coming to use the foodbank and probably the number one reason is benefit delays which can leave people short of those basic essentials. The whole project is completely dependent on donations from the local community so we are thrilled to have such strong backing from Highfields Primary School and Bromford.”

There are approximately 2,000 food distribution centres across the UK and figures from the Trussell Trust show it handed out 1.6 million food parcels in the previous financial year. We are the largest housing provider in Staffordshire and have committed to investing £10m into community initiatives directly related to reducing homelessness in our latest business strategy which run to 2023.