Carrickfergus customers donate to over 4,000 foodbank meals

Carrickfergus College year 10 pupils, Lewis Peoples, Jack Lyttle, Jack Patterson and Jamie Lennon visited Tesco to hand over food they had collected for the Carrickfergus Foodbank and to donate a sum of money they had raised. INCT 31-704-CON

The Carrickfergus Foodbank initiative took place at Tesco Extra in conjunction with charity partners the Trussell Trust and Fareshare.

For many people, emergency food is just the first step in helping them access other services and support which can help get their lives back on track, so the importance of a food donation in helping someone overcome a crisis cannot be underestimated.

Carrickfergus Foodbank, part of The Trussell Trust Foodbank Network, collected at the Minorca store over three days with support from retail staff and volunteers.

Margaret Haggan and Vanessa Postle volunteers for Carrickfergus Foodbank. INCT 29-702-CON

In 2015-16, the Jordan Victory Church-based service provided 332 three-day emergency food supplies to local people in crisis.

Gwen Smyth, Foodbank manager, said: “We want to say a massive thank you to everyone in Carrickfergus who took part in this summer’s Neighbourhood Food Collection. We saw some incredible donations from people in the community. Whether you donated or volunteered in store this year, we want to say a sincere thank you because your generosity and support has a direct impact.

“It is only with the support of local people that the foodbank is able to continue giving vital help when someone is hit by something like illness, redundancy or an unexpected bill.”

During the collection, customers were asked to donate non-perishable food items such as long-life milk, tinned vegetables and tinned fish. A total of 31 volunteers from the foodbank joined with staff in store to collect donations from kind-hearted customers. Tesco then topped up all donations by 20 per cent.