BROMSGROVE’S NewStarts said it had already experienced a 50 to 60 per cent rise in demand for Christmas hampers compared to last year.
During the 2021 festive season, the charity provided 150 of the parcels to those in need – between 220 and 230 have already been requested this year.
Marion Kenyon, CEO of NewStarts, said: “We always get more requests in the weeks running up to the festive season as well.”
The charity is hoping people will donate seasonal food to the cause to help it meet the demand.
Among items being sought are selection boxes, Christmas and chocolate puddings, boxes of chocolates and mince pies.
As well as festive foods, the hampers also include vouchers for local butchers so recipients can get meat for their Christmas dinners.
Donors can drop items off in the trolley at Morrisons or directly to NewStarts in Bromsgrove and Frankley.
Cash can also be donated via PayPal at newstarts.org.uk or by emailing [email protected] so the charity can buy items.
Bromsgrove District Council leader, Coun Karen May, confirmed this week the authority and NewStarts were working together to finalise proposals to pilot a Bromsgrove community supermarket and to determine exact levels of need.
Marion added there were a number of different models for community supermarkets, including static, mobile and pop-ups and all were being assessed to see which ones would work best.
She is now working on a business plan which she anticipates will be completed in early January and the community supermarket could be up-and-running around late January or early February.
Coun Peter McDonald, who called in October for a community shop for the district, said it was ‘very good news’.
“What is most important – especially to outlying parts of the district such as Rubery – is the need of a mobile unit which is now being looked at.
“With well over 3million children now in poverty and families in general struggling to make ends meet this will be a Godsend to many.”
Visit bromsgrove.gov.uk/costofliving for more on the help being offered by Bromsgrove District Council in light of the cost-of-living crisis.
