Back our appeal and have a very good Christmas

Too much food and an excess of drink, day after day?

That might be true for a majority of happy families but not everyone will be so lucky.

For many, it will be a season where they struggle to feed themselves and their families.

That’s why foodbanks are bracing themselves for a record Christmas as more families than ever will turn to them for help.

The Trussell Trust, which runs a network of foodbanks across Leeds, says December is the worst time of year for people going hungry.

That means, obviously, that the Trussell Trust’s work is more important than ever.

That’s why the Yorkshire Evening Post is calling on businesses, community groups and residents across the city to dig deep and support the return of our Feed A Family campaign.

We can argue about the whys and wherefores of charity and the social security system at another time but at Christmas, especially, we should put the poor families first and make sure they are properly fed.

We are calling on you to donate to the city’s foodbanks to support some of our most vulnerable families in Leeds who desperately turn to the service to make ends meet.

Last year we revealed a staggering 2,000 people were set to rely on the support of the city’s network of foodbanks over the festive period - and 47 per cent of those would be children.

And there are fears this year’s Christmas could be even busier for the service.

Last year one mother burst into tears when the volunteers gave her a teddy bear to give to her young son, alongside emergency food.

The fact is she thought she wouldn’t be able to give him anything at Christmas, and the foodbank were able to give her family hope, as well as emergency food.

This woman is far from alone.

The charity is looking for food parcels containing cereal, soup, pasta, rice, pasta sauce, beans, tinned meat, tinned vegetables, tea, coffee, tinned fruit and biscuits.

The trust also accepts toiletries and hygiene products.

So, when you are drawing up your Christmas present list, why not really make someone happy by adding a gift or two from the heart which would make a huge difference?