Horsham foodbank receives Tesco donations to feed hundreds

The donations, given last week at the stores in Broadbridge Heath and Pulborough, have filled 208 crates - equivalent to feeding 104 families of four for three days each.

Volunteers from Horsham Matters, the charity which runs the food bank, are now sorting them into parcels.

Community support coordinator at Horsham Matters Ruth Hodgson said: “One family donated a whole trolley full of food.

“When they were thanked for their generosity they said they had discussed it amongst themselves and instead of buying each other Christmas presents they had spent the money on the food donation. Wonderful.”

Horsham Matters runs the foodbank in partnership with the national poverty charity the Trussell Trust and churches across the district.

Since the beginning of the year they have opened five - two in Horsham and one each in Billingshurst, Henfield and Storrington - and helped 580 different people.

For more information out the charity’s work go to horshamdistrict.foodbank.org.uk

There is another opportunity to give non-perishablefood to a similar charity this weekend. ARK Horsham is welcoming donations at Horsham Waitrose in Piries Place on Saturday December 6 and Sunday December 7.

Items such as long life fruit juice, cereal, tinned food, pasta and rice and jarred sauces are needed for the weekly food parcels they give out to homeless and other vulnerable people on Tuesdays at the town’s United Reformed Church in Springfield Road. It is part if the charity’s holistic work to help people find jobs, secure permanent tenancies and support with addictions. For more information about their work go to www.thearkhorsham.org.uk