Reverse advent calendar donations see Littlehampton & District Foodbank stocked up for Christmas

Volunteers were at Littlehampton Baptist Church on Monday, December 23, to help sort donations, ready for distribution on Christmas Eve.

Among those arriving to donate was ten-year-old Teddy Graddon-Sims, who had bags and bags of goodies from parents at Arundel Church of England School.

He organised the Teddy's Foodbank Collection from Friday, December 13, to Thursday, December 19, with parents taking donations to the school gate in the morning.

Mum Emma Graddon-Sims said the foodbank volunteers had kindly offered to show Teddy around when he delivered them all to the church and explain how the donations were given out.

She said he had taken over organising the school's collection for the foodbank from his friend Maisie when he was in year four. As Teddy will be going on to high school next year, he will now be handing over the role to a younger pupil.

Foodbank manager Hazel Lodge said several companies had also arranged to deliver their donations during the morning and everything was sorted for the Christmas session on Tuesday, December 24.

She explained: "We give people a specific time to come to the foodbank, as it saves them waiting around too long and it means we can spend more time chatting with them about their needs.

"We have seen record numbers coming to us over the past few weeks needing help, which is incredibly sad. It is a myth that the people coming to us are on benefits. There has been a huge change in needs and actually a big proportion are working - the money just doesn't stretch.

"We generally give a parcel with enough food to make three meals a day for three days. We ask about cooking facilities people have, allergies and any foods they really can't stand. We also give toiletries and we will give them a tin opener if they need one.

"We make up the parcels there and then and at this time of year, we will also put in Christmas goodies, if they want them. We saw 67 people on Friday, December 20, but Christmas Eve is always the busiest shift."

The foodbank asks for donations of non-perishable items, which are handed out on a voucher system. People are generally able to get help with food and other items for six months.

Hazel said: "The most important thing is that we want everyone to have the dignity to be able to buy their own food and we are here to help people find a way to do that.

"It is not long-term support, it is crisis support. We really want to help people to get out of crisis so they do not need us long term and will signpost them to places that can help them out of the situation."