Staff at housing association Flagship are once again helping those in need in mid Norfolk and across the county by filling and decorating charity boxes with food.
In total 16 boxes will be delivered during December as every working day a local Flagship Ranger will take them to one of the following charities: the Norwich, Mid Norfolk and Thetford Foodbanks, St Martin's Trust in Norwich, The Woodbridge Salvation Army, and Newmarket Open Door.
The boxes full of non-perishable food items will be given to people in time for Christmas, many of which would go hungry at this time of year.
Hannah Worsley, project manager at the Norwich Foodbank, said: 'Flagship's donations last year helped us to provide the equivalent of 187 meals to local people in crisis – this is such a help to us, as December is our busiest month; we expect to give out over 1,000 food parcels during December this year. We're delighted that the staff at Flagship are getting behind us and other charities once again, thank you all for your support.'
St Martins Housing Trust will use the food as part of their annual Christmas meal for their service users and other members of the community. Any surplus food will be given to people using their 'Under-1-Roof' resource centre which aims to provide them with skills they need to help compete for jobs.
Derek Player, general manager at St Martins, said: 'The people we support are facing a major crisis in their lives, whether they are sleeping rough, sofa surfing or in temporary accommodation. Flagship's donations will be welcomed by our service users and will help them feel valued and remembered at this time of year.'
As a housing provider for people in need, some of Flagship's customers may themselves receive the charity boxes.
Deputy chief executive at Flagship Helen Walsham said: 'Last year was a huge success as our staff were really enthusiastic about decorating and filling the boxes. I'm really pleased we have decided to do something similar again for some fantastic charities who make a huge difference to people who are less fortunate than us.'
Once the boxes have been delivered by Flagship, the charities will distribute them among people in their communities.
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