We started collecting for the local food bank in November, spurred on by the UK Government's initial vote against funding the free school meals over the holidays. It seemed like such an obvious cause to support, so decided it was time to do something about it, in whatever small way we could.
We pledged to do four collections in the run up to Christmas, and with each collection we gained more support – the first three raised roughly £165 worth of food donations which were bought from our local supermarket before being donated straight to the food bank.
As we spoke to more people about it, it became clear to us that this is a cause that lots of people wanted to support, and after the third collection we decided we should go BIG on the last one.
What happened next was pretty amazing. Within just a few days of putting out the initial feelers, sharing the message on Facebook, Twitter, and amongst friends and family, we quickly raised over £500. We then posted about it on a couple of local Facebook pages and the next thing we knew, we'd broke the £1000 mark!
The support has been fantastic so far, with individuals from across the country and local businesses and organisations donating towards the collection. The COVID-19 pandemic has hit everyone hard this year, but for those already with so little it's even harder, so it's really heartening to see people digging deep to help those less fortunate this Christmas. There’s been a real sense of community.
A pot of £250 will be ring-fenced to do our ‘big shop’ on Wednesday 23rd December, with the rest of the money raised going directly to Angus Food Bank once this Crowdfunder closes.
PLEASE NOTE:
We already had over £1100 pledged to this collection before setting up this Crowdfunder – we didn't expect it to gain so much support and realised that we can collect more for Angus Food Bank through Gift Aid which wasn't previously available to us. So please ensure you tick the Gift Aid box when you donate! :)