Food bank given boost with school donations

A CHURCH in Emmer Green has collected harvest donations from schools for food bank ReadiFood.

The Hill Primary School, Emmer Green Pre-school and Emmer Green Kindergarten donated six car-loads between them.

Rev Kevin Lovell, of St Barnabas Church, said: “We have a good relationship with schools in the area and every year at harvest time, because we are a collection point for ReadiFood food bank, they offer to collect food at their harvest celebrations.

“Some of the pre-schools come into church and I go and do assemblies with primary schools and that coincides with the donations we collect.

“The food bank was really thankful because their stocks get really low in the summertime because donations tend to tail off and I think they’re probably full to bursting at the moment.

“They’ve got quite a lot of food that they’re stockpiling for the winter now and I suspect that the harvest donations give them that boost that carries them quite a few months through to Christmas and the New Year.”

Andy Dickens, the director of the Faith Christian Group, which runs Readifood, said that harvest donations are always desperately needed.

He said: “Easter through to harvest is the longest lull period for donations. Prior to harvest we have to buy in stock to supply to the 180 households we provide for every week which are in emergency crisis.”