THOUSANDS of food items and more than 800 presents were donated as Saddleworth Round Table and Dovestone WI teamed up to support Oldham Foodbank at Christmas.
The event at Greenfield Dog Training Centre in December saw the kind-hearted community drop off the items and gifts for the foodbank to distribute to people in need across the borough.
All the food items were taken to the Sacred Heart Church Hall in Uppermill to be sorted before they could be distributed.
John Arthurs, chairman of Saddleworth Round Table, said: “A massive thanks for your donations – it goes a long way to help many families in these difficult times.
“Another thanks to everyone that took part in this year’s virtual Santa Dash. We were overwhelmed by the uptake and seeing all you Santas running around Saddleworth and further afield.
“All money raised is going to Oldham Foodbank, which has seen a massive increase in the number of people relying on it during the pandemic.”
Saddleworth Round Table also presented a cheque at the drop-off event, which was their fourth of the year, to Oldham Foodbank for £2,503.68 raised by the virtual Santa Dash.
Meanwhile, it took the Dovestone WI ‘Elf Squad’ two days to wrap and label more than 800 presents donated for babies, children, teenagers, men and women of all ages.
Jess Moreland, Dovestone WI president, said: “Thank you to every single person who donated gifts for our ‘Give a Gift’ campaign.
“There’s going to be a lot of happy children and parents who, without your generosity, would be facing a rather different Christmas.”
The gifts were shared between Oldham Foodbank and Mossley Foodbank to bring cheer across the communities.
Oldham Foodbank donates emergency food supplies to people in crisis. Find out more on their website: oldham.foodbank.org.uk