An Eden church has handed out over 300 festive food hampers to families who may be feeling the pinch this Christmas.
The Salvation Army in Penrith has been awarded funding by the Holiday Activity and Food (HAF) Programme at Cumbria County Council.
The Hunter’s Lane church has put the funding towards food supplies for children over the school holidays.
The hampers have enough food to last families seven days and are for children who receive free school meals.
Each hamper includes enough food supplies to make seven two-course meals for families as well as a menu ideas leaflet. The items will be non-perishable, resulting in less cooking time and saving on energy costs. There will also be festive treats included alongside the hampers.
Major Carole Donaldson, church leader at The Salvation Army in Penrith, has seen the need for support to families grow each year.
She said: “We see it a lot, the families that haven’t got support when their children aren’t in school. We see the families that are struggling daily as the cost of living crisis continues to move at an incredibly fast pace.
“Combining both with a two-week school holiday when a meal a day for their children would ordinarily be taken care of and paid for, means that many children could suffer if there wasn’t any support on offer.
“We know that sadly for some children a school meal is often the one hot meal they’ll eat all day and if parents can’t afford the rising bills when the children are in school, they’re most definitely going to struggle when the schools are closed for two weeks and their children are at home.
“We want to be there for those amongst us that are in need of help, and we anticipate we will be busy, with many families struggling this year more than ever as more are finding themselves pushed into poverty.”
The Salvation Army is also running a Christmas Present Appeal where the church will take donations of new and unwrapped gifts for distribution to families where children wouldn’t otherwise have anything to open on Christmas Day.
