Home builder steps in to help 100 families over Christmas

Christmas sees an increase in demand for essential goods at the County Durham & Sunderland Food Bank Warehouse, which provides support to families who need it most over the festive period.

It has now received the donation from Miller Homes.

Miller transformed five sales offices into food bank drop off points in December and collected everything from Christmas biscuits, nuts and cakes to tinned goods and toiletries, all given by their staff and a generous public.

The donations will help over 100 families across County Durham and Sunderland, who might otherwise have struggled for food and other essentials over the holidays.

The relationship between the home builder and foodbank was established when Miller’s sales team supported the charity over Christmas 2020, donating 86 packages of food and toiletry supplies. The relationship has grown from there.

According to a November report released by the Childhood Trust, 250,000 children in the UK will go hungry this Christmas. Nearly a fifth of families in the country are worried about not being able to afford Christmas dinner.

Debbie Whittingham, area sales director at Miller Homes, said: “The last year has been a really difficult time for families across our region and there is still a long way to go for many of us.

“We are thrilled to have doubled our 2020 donation to the food bank and we hope that everyone involved in the charity has a fantastic Christmas.”

Foodbank Warehouse co-ordinator, Jonathan Conlan, said, “We completely rely on both food and financial donations to continue to operate our foodbank network, so the generous donation from Miller Homes is very gratefully received.

“Christmas is busy time for us and are expecting that the amount of people accessing food banks this year will be particularly high down to a combination of factors; including cuts to Universal Credit, increasing fuel costs and rising prices for food.

“Donations like this ensure that there is not only enough to eat, but a taste of Christmas too.”

To donate visit sunderland.foodbank.org.uk or durham.foodbank.org.uk.

Support your Echo and become a subscriber today.

Enjoy unlimited access to all of our news and sport, see fewer ads, experience faster load times, test your brain with daily puzzles and get access to exclusive newsletters.

Your support for our journalism means we can continue telling Sunderland’s stories for generations to come. Click here to subscribe – and click here to get a snapshot of the Echo’s news and sport to your inbox through our email newsletters.