Wakefield Christmas Hamper Appeal WILL meet its target as first hampers head out to families in need

The first bulk of family hampers in the Express-backed Wakefield Christmas Hamper Appeal have now been delivered.

The Portobello Community Centre accepted the first 60 boxes from appeal organisers with the Rotary Club of Wakefield Chantry and the Community Awareness Programme (CAP). The first batch has been donated by members and friends of the rotary club and will all go to help families in the Portobello area.

Sarah Cutts, manager of the centre, said: “This is a wonderful effort by everyone. Under normal circumstances we are helping around 20 families in particular need in this area and these hampers will now allow us to help many more in the run up to this Christmas.”

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Volunteers with the appeal still have another 400 hampers to pack and distribute next week. These will be going to the Children First Centres across the district.

Bob Guard, a rotary organiser, said “This quantity is well below what we would want to achieve in a normal year, however this is most definitely not a normal year. Restrictions placed on everyone because of the pandemic meant that collecting, packing and delivering the hampers is much more difficult and we were concerned originally that we would not be able to run the appeal at all.”

However Express readers and volunteers have once again pulled together to make it happen. Finished hampers, loose food and financial donations have been rolling in, meaning the appeal will be able to meet the targets set for this year. The CAP centre on Market Street is still taking donations. Call 01924 381119 for details.

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