During the festive period, Group Support helped ease some suffering within the local community by donating food and toiletries to Lichfield foodbank. We managed to donate 100kg of food, the equivalent of 250 meals! It’s an achievement we are very proud of — thank you to everyone who did their bit to help.

Most of us have a home and a family to share Christmas with but there is a world of dread and fear outside our windows, as Band Aid famously sang, and many rely upon foodbanks to get by.

So it was a lovely feeling to read Lichfield foodbank’s letter of thanks:

“Lichfield foodbank would like to say a very big thank you to Voyage Care for their recent generous donation for which we have been very grateful…Since our first opening in March 2014 we have collected and distributed the equivalent of almost 425,000 meals…All this is thanks to the huge generosity of organisations such as yours so thank you again for your help and support for local people.“

Our services also made the effort to ease suffering in their local communities. Maeres House donated much needed food and toiletries and St Marks Road raised funds for deprived children in Derby by providing them with a meal and a gift.

Well done to everyone who did their bit to help!

Christmas is a great time to give to those in need but what about the rest of the year? We shouldn’t pull down the blinds in January and stop seeing the pain of others. There are lots of things you can do throughout the year to make a difference.

You could drop spare change into a charity collection box as you go about your day. You could buy an extra tin of beans and put it in a donation trolley or foodbank. You could even help without spending a penny by donating clothes and household items to charity shops — this also helps the environment!

Let’s keep the spirit of Christmas all year round and do what we can to help those who are less fortunate.

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