Record year of Christmas donations from council staff

A record donation of food and winter woollies will be helping people in need in Croydon this Christmas thanks to the generosity of the council’s staff, contractors, and business partners.

Council employees also raised over £900 by taking part in Christmas Jumper Day, the national charity drive supporting Macmillan Cancer Support, Make-A-Wish® UK and Save the Children.

Now in its fourth year, the council’s annual food-donation scheme saw staff fill scores of shopping trollies, provided by Ikea, with a wide range of kitchen cupboard favourites. Their donations were boosted by a contribution of a further two thousand pounds’ worth of food from Interserve, the company that looks after the council’s offices.

The donated items were sorted with help from Croydon College students and other volunteers and were boxed up for distribution across the borough.

Together with the food parcels and support from individual food banks more than 400 food parcels were handed out via both the Croydon Food Network and the council’s family resilience service, which works year-round to help households facing homelessness or other traumatic events.

Frank Widdowson chair of the Croydon Food Network said: “The food project has been a wonderful achievement for a very worthy cause, and special thanks must go to the team of food trolley champions who were responsible for encouraging staff on their floors to make a donation.

“These donations have made a huge difference to people’s lives by providing food to Croydon families in need.”

Alongside the food collection, council staff also donated hundreds of items of warm clothing, from socks and gloves to scarves and hats, which will be distributed via homelessness charities Turning Point and Thames Reach.

“Christmas is when many people find it difficult to make ends meet, and this is particularly true for families going through especially tough times. The council provides a great deal of help and support all year round, but these donation schemes are a fantastic way for all our staff to contribute personally towards improving people’s lives.”

Councillor Louisa Woodley, cabinet member for families, health and social care

2015-12-21T16:21:11+00:00 December 21st, 2015|Recent news|