The Okehampton Rotary Club has raised over £1,500 for the Okehampton Foodbank this Christmas as part of the club’s Christmas Collection campaign.

Last week (December 15 and 16), club members gathered outside Waitrose and the Co-op to help the foodbank, which has seen an increase in demand, especially this Christmas time.

The Rotary Club was joined by foodbank volunteers, some members of the Inner Wheel, and Round Table members who brought brought the group’s famous Santa Sleigh to Waitrose on the Saturday (December 16) to the delight of all ages.

Dave Potter from the Rotary Club, said: ”The generosity of people in Okehampton is just amazing. We set out to help the foodbank at this Christmas time but never expected to achieve so much. The people who donated so much are the real heroes and we send a huge thank you to them. Every penny and all the food collected will go to the foodbank.”

People shopping at the two stores were invited to make donations of food or money and, by the end of the two days, members had collected over £1,500 in cash and card donations and more than 25 plastic crates of food and some other items

The Rotary Club has also given thanks to the Waitrose and Co-op managers and staff for hosting the event and thanked the foodbank for all the work it does to ensure those in food poverty are able to have enough to eat.

This year the Rotary Club decided to raise funds for the Okehampton Foodbank, following reports that the number of foodbank users had risen considerably this autumn and winter. In the last week, the foodbank has helped 138 people, a big increase in numbers over this time last year.

The foodbank operates all year round and the Co-op and Waitrose stores have collection boxes at their exits where customers can donate items to the foodbank.

Each year, the Rotary Club holds a Christmas collection for its charity account and pledges to use the money raised for local charitable and good causes.

In July this year, the Okehampton Rotary Club also supported the foodbank when members aimed to increase awareness of the foodbank by handing out leaflets at Waitrose and Co-op doors to try to encourage shoppers to purchase food items to donate.

Over the course of two days, the Rotary Club saw a mass of donations with over 30 green plastic food trays being filled – far more than expected – and taken to the foodbank store at Okehampton Baptist Church.

The initiative came after the Okehampton Foodbank saw donations fall by up to 60 per cent after last Christmas and New Year, and began to struggle to provide help to the people in Okehampton who relied upon it for food support.

For more information visit the Okehampton Rotary Club website.