Parcels of cheer for old folk (From Worcester News)

Parcels of cheer for old folk

11:50am Monday 14th December 2009 in

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ELDERLY people will have a happier Christmas thanks to the generosity of people in Worcester.

Members of Rotary clubs in the city visited homes in Worcester yesterday to collect donation bags they had delivered last week.

The bags were filled with tins of food, canned fruit, chocolate, biscuits or cash donations to help those in need.

About 200 members of the five Rotary clubs in Worcester collected the filled bags before dividing up the proceeds into parcels that will be delivered to elderly people today and tomorrow.

There had been 6,000 bags delivered to houses last weekend to be collected, and along with those – and collections made – just under 1,000 food parcels were made up.

Councillor Paul Denham, spokesman for the groups, said: “It went really well and the great people of Worcester were very generous.

“Each of the food parcels has 16 different items in it, and are a mixture of meat, fish, fruit, Christmas puddings, soups and chocolate – so there is quite a good range of items in there.

“As well as these donations, though, over the last few weeks we have been collecting money from kind customers at St Peter’s Garden Centre, the Co-op in St John’s and Tesco’s in St Peter’s.

“We raised £3,500, and from this we bought more food, tea and coffee from the Co-op at a great discounted price to also pack into the bags.”

The Christmas collection is organised in conjunction with your Worcester News, which donates £250 towards the project each year. Coun Denham said that despite the recession, they had noticed no less generosity than the last few years.

“It really has been a major success. It is hard in these times, but it is heartening to know that there are still enough people in Worcester who are happy to donate.

“Perhaps it is because they know there are people out there struggling, so people are being as generous as ever,” he said.

“The festive spirit definitely is in Worcester this year,” he said, adding that the clubs thanked everyone for being so kind.

Last year, the collection resulted in 800 bags being donated to elderly people in need of help.

The Rotary clubs have been organising such collections for about 25 years.

The Rotary clubs of Worcester are Worcester, Worcester Severn, Worcester South, Wychavon and Vigornia. Volunteers from each club helped with the collection.