A HAMPER full of food has been donated to a Thornaby food bank after care home residents and staff collected essentials during this year’s Harvest Festival.
The hamper from Mandale House Care Home, on Acklam Road, was donated to the Thornaby Food Bank, at Thornaby Baptist Church.
Staff donated biscuits, tea, tinned fruit and vegetables, tuna, coffee, sauces, jam and marmalade, which was hand delivered to the church by the home’s activities coordinator Tracy Wilson.
Resident Patricia Dobson said: “We all thought the idea of putting the hamper together was a really nice thing to do. It’s really good to be able to help other people, especially during these difficult times.”
The harvest festival was also celebrated at the home with a reminiscence session, when residents talked about marking the occasion when they young.
Resident Brenda Turner said: “I remember going into church for harvest festival, singing hymns and being part of the community.”
Residents also read harvest poems, coloured autumnal pictures, talked about making corn dollies and sang harvest songs, including “We Plough the Fields and Scatter”.
For their evening meal, the home’s kitchen staff created a hearty beef stew with dumplings, turnips and carrots, followed by a desert of apple turnover.
Tracy said: “It was wonderful to reminisce about harvest festival. Residents remembered taking tins of peas to school for harvest festival assembly.
“The staff were brilliant bringing lots of things in for the hamper and helping us to support the food bank.”