December 3, 2013 9.09 am This story is over 123 months old

Lincolnshire Co-op donates 7,000 items to local food banks

Christmas spirit: Lincolnshire Co-op are donating £4,500 worth of items to local food banks over the festive period.

(L-R) President of Lincolnshire Co-op Malcolm Hoskins, Rod Munro from Sleaford Foodbank, Joan Townsend and Rose Chave from St Luke’s Church Foodbank in Birchwood, Geoff Martin from Gainsborough Salvation Army Foodbank and Bethan Lloyd from Lincoln Foodbank. Photo: Lincolnshire Co-op

More than 7,000 Lincolnshire Co-op items, amassing £4,500, will be donated to food banks across the county and Newark over Christmas.

In the run up to Christmas, eighteen food banks will receive £250 packages, containing 418 products such as 24 tins of peas, 12 jars of pasta sauce, 12 bags of porridge oats and 24 litres of UHT milk.

Lincolnshire Co-op decided to help food banks in its area after a report by the Trussell Trust found a 170% rise in the number of people using food banks during the year.

Food banks help those in short term crisis, offering three days’ worth of food in exchange for a food voucher given at a number of care agencies.

In Lincoln, both the Lincoln Foodbank and St Luke Church Foodbank will benefit from the packages.

Bethan Lloyd from Lincoln Foodbank said: “The support from Lincolnshire Co-op has been brilliant and we’d like to thank them very much.

“Staff have been really involved in the donation finding out what the key items that we need are so we are able to reach more people with quality, well rounded, healthy food parcels.”

Lincolnshire Co-op’s Supply Chain Manager Nicola Berry said: “We’re really pleased to be able to support people in our communities and we know that our donation will help the food banks to provide for many people in need over the festive period.”

Members of Lincolnshire Co-op can help support local food banks by selecting them as their Community Champion.

This can be done by visiting Lincolnshire.coop and choosing them from the list of champions.

That way, every time a member uses their dividend card, a donation from the Community Champions pot will go to the food banks throughout the year.