Community spirit alive and well as Mere Green pupils help others this Christmas

Caring students at Mere Green Primary School have got into the Christmas spirit by donating hundreds of items to less fortunate people this festive season.

On Thursday, December 19, volunteers from Hope Food North Birmingham arrived to collect a mountain of food from the school, which is part of the respected Arthur Terry Learning Partnership (ATLP).

Youngsters were on hand to help load it up too!

Ava Maou, 11, said: “I brought in some beans and some toiletries. It’s nice to think that people will be using the things that I brought in.”

Sebastian Jinks, ten, said: “It’s important to help people at Christmas because people who are less fortunate might not get the opportunity to buy presents, or might not have enough food.”

Anson Lo, ten, said: “We collected beans the most, everybody seemed to bring beans! There were plenty of other nice things too, like mince pies and chocolate.”

Hope Food North Birmingham is based at Streetly Methodist Church, but originally formed at St James’ Church, just down the road from Mere Green Primary School.

The volunteer-led group runs weekly food banks in Mere Green, Falcon Lodge and Erdington.

“Charity really does begin in your own community and we are an organisation run entirely by volunteers – operating from 6.30am to 10pm – and we simply wouldn’t be able to manage without donations like this.”

Assistant Headteacher at Mere Green Primary, Ross Newton, said: “We started collecting items at the start of December and have been blown away by the response.

“The children and the community were informed of the project and the kind of things we wanted to collect and they’ve really pulled together with hundreds of items being donated.

“It’s lovely to see that spirit of Christmas come through with the children and the families giving what they can to support others.

“It’s been a child-led project and it’s been wonderful to see how they have embraced it.”

Students, their families and staff from fellow ATLP school Arthur Terry School also took part in the festive initiative – much to the huge gratitude of the charity organisation.

Picture: Hope Food North Birmingham volunteers collect the impressive haul of donations from Mere Green Primary School pupils and staff.