AN APPEAL TO COUNCIL STAFF will help make it a Happier Easter for families in Sunderland.
Volunteers from the Business Support team regularly lead fundraising and charity campaigns within the council, the latest one being to ask council colleagues to donate Easter Eggs.
They launched the appeal over the council Intranet and with posters in council offices across the city, asking staff to help create a ‘mountain’ of chocolate eggs.
Hundreds have now been collected, with the largest ones also put for raffle to help raise money to buy even more.
All the donated Easter Eggs were arranged for collection at the civic centre by pupils from Hudson Road Primary, to be delivered for distribution to families across Sunderland through the Sunderland foodbank network from the head offices based in Hendon.
Deputy Leader of Sunderland City Council and Vice Chair of Governors at Hudson Road Primary, Councillor Michael Mordey said: “I’d like to thank all the staff who donated an Easter Egg to this appeal, and all those who helped organise it.
“It’s great to think that their generosity could help make such a difference to a family’s Easter, with a chocolate celebratory gift for their children at a very special time of year which brings people of all ages together.
“ I’m delighted that pupils from Hudson Road Primary have volunteered to play their part in organising everything for collection, and would also like to thank all those from the Sunderland foodbank network who will help make sure all those families most in need will receive one.”
The Year 2 pupil volunteers from Hudson Road Primary helped to arrange the ‘mountain’ of donated Easter Eggs into different, smaller piles for collection.
All aged seven, Olivia said: “If I were to get an Easter Egg from the food bank it would be very exciting’ while classmate Bailey commented: “It would make me feel very thankful to the people who sent it.”
Obydullah added: “I think it’s a great idea to give Easter Eggs to people who can’t afford food or treats,” Natasza said: “‘It makes me feel happy that I had helped,’ and Tamika added: “The children who get one of the Easter Eggs would maybe feel happy and excited.”
Sunderland foodbank Co-ordinator, Kate Townsend said: “The donations are another amazing example of people’s generosity in Sunderland. We work with a network of foodbanks across the Sunderland area, helping some of the most vulnerable members of our community, and they could not function without the kind hearts of the public.”
The Sunderland foodbank network is a new project, which has been running since November 2017 organised by Durham Christian Partnership to bring together food banks from across the city.
It is part of the nationwide Trussell Trust foodbank network. Kate added: “We work really closely with the Sunderland Connect Network, who establish relationships with churches across the area, as well as with supermarkets, referral agencies and other food projects.
“In order to access a foodbank, clients need to be referred in by a professional agency. In this way, we can ensure that the client is getting all of the help that they need.”