In addition to the emergency 3-day food parcels we provided to individuals, couples and families this December, we also provided 192 Christmas hampers. These hampers were lovingly packed by members of our Warehouse team and comprised of Christmas-themed goodies.
Christmas adds so much pressure to people living in food poverty. We selected Christmas treats and goodies from the generous donations we received and put together hampers which we hope sent a message of love and helped in a small way to make the Christmas season more enjoyable for those who are in crisis.
The hampers typically included chocolate biscuit selections packs, mince pies, crisps, pickles, custard, tinned ham or salmon, crackers, tea, Christmas pudding, chocolates as well as a toiletries gift pack.
Whilst the hampers were gratefully received, there was inevitably additional pressure for our already busy teams. We will be looking to do this differently in 2020 to ensure we can manage this process more effectively. Many of the donations we received came in too close to Christmas and it was difficult to turn them around and get them out to people. This year we will be looking to communicate our Christmas hamper wish list much earlier with an aim to have donations received by mid November at the latest. You may like to make a note of this in your diaries as we do so value your support.