Lichfield Primary schools donate 1,500 meals to foodbank
7 December 2022
As volunteers at Lichfield’s FoodBank prepare for Christmas, they have counted up the incredible contribution made by three caring city Primary Schools at harvest time – the equivalent of almost 1,500 meals.
Youngsters at Greysbrooke Primary School, St Michael’s C of E (C) Primary School and Scotch Orchard Primary School – all part of the respected Arthur terry Learning Partnership – collected a total of 628kg of goods during their annual harvest festival appeals.
Greysbrooke primary sent 112kg of goods, the equivalent of 269 meals; St Michael’s gave 389kg, the equivalent of 926 meals and Scotch Orchard produced 127kg, equivalent to 303 meals.
St Michael’s Headteacher Helen Robertson said: “Harvest Festival at St Michael’s has always been a highlight of our school year, and it was lovely to be back in church this year for the first time in three years.
“The church had been beautifully decorated in advance by our Year 2’s working with the member of St Michael’s church, creating flower jars.
“Church was packed with parents and family members making it a real celebration, with the children entertaining us with songs, poems, readings and reflections.
“Our Harvest collection was for Lichfield Foodbank; their volunteers were truly astonished by the number of donations we dropped off. Thanks to the generosity of our families we managed to donate 389kg, the equivalent of 926 meals.”
Greysbrooke headteacher Ellie Ballinger said:
“We are so incredibly proud and grateful to the entire school community for showing their love and kindness towards the local community at a time when many families are struggling.
“The donations came in thick and fast over four days and seeing the trolley filling up daily was humbling and resonated the message of generosity and that together we are stronger.
A spokesperson for Lichfield Foodbank said: “We were very grateful indeed for all the generous donations we received during the Harvest season; we are busier than we have ever been, and we need to be able to meet the increasing demand for food parcels.”
Lichfield Foodbank runs three distribution centres, regularly giving out 200 food parcels each week.
Between April and September 2022, the number of food parcels issued by Foodbanks nationally rose by 33% compared to the same period in 2021. In the Lichfield district the corresponding increase was 78%.
Everyone who goes to the Foodbank for emergency food needs to have a valid Foodbank voucher. For more information, please contact us on 01543 253 003.
Captions:
St Michael’s Assistant Head Andrew Jones at the Foodbank, after he dropped off the huge Harvest collection.
Some of the collection from Greysbrooke Primary School.
