Express & Star

Feed a Family This Christmas: Every donation helps make a difference

"Every donation matters" – that's the message from staff and volunteers busily working behind the scenes at the Black Country Food Bank.

Published

The charity's warehouse in Brierley Hill is where every item donated is logged and stored before it is delivered to its 19 distribution centres across Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall.

People can visit these centres to exchange vouchers, which are issued by organisations in the community, for three days of emergency food supplies.

Around 40 volunteers work at The Storehouse sorting donations and ensuring they are delivered to the different centres depending on demand.

Every item is checked and the best before date written on it to ensure supplies are used in the right order.

"The biggest crime we commit is to waste food so it's important that we know when it has to be used by," said volunteer Kelvin Bates.

Any donation which must be used urgently is passed on to The Good Shepherd Ministry in Wolverhampton which serves hot meals to individuals and families in need.

Orders are made up and shipped out with the help of Kevin Bates

Within the warehouse, the items are stored by food type to make it easier for supplies to be gathered and for the monitoring of stock.

"Although it might look like we have lots of food, it's not as much as it looks. The cereals might just be enough for a few weeks and the whole lot would run out within a few months without further donations. We are grateful for everything we receive, every donation matters and makes a difference," said Mr Bates who has been volunteering for the charity for 11 years.

Last year, the warehouse distributed 36,000kg of food across the Black Country which had been donated by the community including 70 churches and 50 schools.

But it's not just food. The charity also hands out toiletries and cleaning supplies.

Tom Watson was one of many well-known faces to support the campaign

Labour's deputy leader is the latest champion of the Express & Star's Feed A Family This Christmas appeal.

West Bromwich East MP Tom Watson described the campaign as a 'fantastic' cause and urged people to dig deep to support families in need.

The number of people turning to food banks for help is rising as more people find it difficult to make ends meet. Many thousands of emergency food parcels have been handed out across the Black Country and Staffordshire during the past six months.

The aim of the Feed A Family This Christmas appeal is to support food banks and other charitable organisations by providing vital supplies to those people in the community who need them the most. Speaking about the campaign, Mr Watson said: "This is a fantastic initiative and I urge everyone who is able to get involved and help to feed a family this Christmas."

He is not the only MP to back the appeal as Dudley North MP Ian Austin has already spoken out about the need to give food banks some extra support, saying 'they need all the help they can get, especially at this time of year'.

Donations have already been flooding in with generous readers getting behind the cause. We've had support from Lichfield Food Bank which has handed over some of its surplus stock and the 8th Wolverhampton Scout group has given us an array of items leftover from its annual summer camp consisting of hot dogs, spaghetti, cereals, milk and jam.

Businesses have also pledged to back our campaign by hosting donation boxes on their premises for workers to drop-off contributions.

Inspired Gaming Group in Showell Road, Wolverhampton and Guardian Locks & Engineering in Willenhall are both helping along with the Therapy Services department at the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust.Wolves favourites Steve Bull and Mel Eves have also backed the appeal.

The charity provides crisis provision to an average of 1,400 people per month. Of that figure around 40 per cent are children

The main issue people face is benefits being delayed or stopped which leaves them turning to the food bank for help.

It partners with around 250 local agencies in an effort to ensure that food goes to people in genuine need.

You can bring your Feed A Family This Christmas donations to our Express & Star offices in Wolverhampton, Cannock and Stourbridge.

These are:

  • Express & Star Wolverhampton head office: 51-53 Queen Street, Wolverhampton WV1 1ES

  • Express & Star Cannock/Walsall office: Queen Square, Cannock WS11 1EA

  • Express & Star Stourbridge office: 3 Market Street, Stourbridge DY8 1AB

We also have drop-off boxes for your donations at:

  • Waitrose Wolverhampton, Penn Road, Wolverhampton WV2 4NJ.

  • The Midcounties Co-operative Food Store Codsall - 28-32 Wood Lane/Bakers Way, Codsall WV8 1DB. Donations dropped off at this shop will be given to The Well – The Home of Wolverhampton Food Bank.

If your business would like to host a donation box please contact Heather Large on 01902 319501 or email heather.large@expressandstar.co.uk

Mr Bates, aged 68, from Brierley Hill, said the charity was well-supported in the community.

"This job restores your faith in humanity. It's wonderful to see what people have given to help people they have never met and are never likely to.

"We often hear about the bad things that are happening in the community – we don't tend hear about all of the good things.

"This is the good that is happening every day," he added. Jen Williams, aged 67, from Kingswinford, has been volunteering for 12 months having previously worked at Debenhams and as a hairdresser.

"I was amazed at how much this food was needed. I had no idea how hard some people were finding it just to get enough to eat.

"I love volunteering here because I know I'm doing my bit to help those less fortunate," she said.

The Black Country Food Bank is one of the good causes which will benefit from the Express & Star's Feed A Family This Christmas appeal.

With the help of our readers we want to provide families with Christmas treats they would otherwise not be able to afford as well as supplying them with store-cupboard essentials to keep them going through the festive season.

Volunteer Jen Williams checks the dates on food as they come in

We will also be supporting The Well (Home of the Wolverhampton Food Bank), the Good Shepherd Ministry in Wolverhampton, Smethwick Food Bank, Walsall North Food Bank and Cannock and District Food Bank.

We will also be supporting The Haven which provides both practical and emotional support services to women and children who are affected by domestic violence and homelessness.

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