Thoughtful pupils donate Harvest food collection to Hartlepool Foodbank

St Helen's Primary School headboy Daniel Owen and headgirl Poppy Barnes with Harvest food donations, which were collected by Hartlepool Food Bank workers Paul Anderson and Dave Tindall, left.

Pupils, parents and staff at St Helen’s Primary School, in Hartlepool, have come together over the Harvest period to collect a number of food items – including tins, cereal and fruits – in aid of Hartlepool Foodbank.

The collection lasted for two weeks and the goods were handed over to food bank workers Paul Anderson and Dave Tindall at the end of the school half term.

The school, in the town’s Durham Street, organises a Harvest collection every year and reception teacher and RE Lead Chloe Bottomley has said there have been “quite a lot” of donations.

Pupils, parents and staff at St Helene's Primary School collected items over the course of a fortnight.

She said: "This year, we decided to give it to the food bank to give back to the community.

"They were really happy with the donations.

"It was nice for the children to be able to hand it over to the food bank. They could see that it was going to the food bank and that they are making a difference in the community.”

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Miss Bottomley has added that she feels “absolutely” proud of the children for their generous donations.

"I can’t believe how many donations there actually was,” she said.

"Some of these children are also in need and also use the food bank, to donate so much food to the food bank, I think that really shows how much these children want to give back, how grateful they are.”

Lisa Lavender, who is coordinator of Hartlepool Foodbank, has said that the donations are “very important” and “gratefully received”.

Lisa said: “They are very important because it enables us to continue to help people in need, particularly at this time.

"We are approaching Christmas and with the £20 benefit stopping, the food is all the more important and the donations that we get are gratefully received.”

The temporary £20 a week uplift to Universal Credit was cut at the start of October of this year, affecting as many as 13,408 people in the Hartlepool area.

More information about Hartlepool Foodbank’s work is available on its Facebook page Hartlepool Foodbank.

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