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Daily aims to donate three tonnes of food to poor in new appeal

tonne of tins logoAn appeal to buy three tonnes of food for the poor at Christmas has been launched by a regional daily.

The North West Evening Mail’s Tonnes of Tins campaign aims to collect enough donations of food and cash to help feed people in need on the newspaper’s patch over the festive season.

The Barrow-based title ran a campaign under the name Tonne of Tins last year, but now hopes to raise three times its 2014 target.

Barrow Foodbank and its satellite sites fed 3,087 people and issued 1,307 food vouchers between 1 April and 23 October. A tonne of food costs £1,680.

Evening Mail editor James Higgins said: “It’s easy to take for granted simple things in life like food; however, the reality is that for many families in south Cumbria a decent meal every day is not always the reality.

“Our last Tonne of Tins appeal was a massive success and we were heartened by the way the community got involved.

“I am sure that over the next six weeks the people of Barrow, Ulverston, Millom and the towns and villages in between will display the fantastic community spirit that this area is so famous for.”

The campaign will last for six weeks and to mark the launch the Evening Mail trailer has visited four supermarkets for collections.

Project manager at Barrow Foodbank, Ann Mills said: “In the run-up to Christmas this will be really appreciated.

“We do see an increase in the amount of people visiting us from November until the end of January.

“People get themselves into debt at Christmas time because they want to buy presents for their children.

“These people are not coming here for extra shopping, they are coming here because they need help.”

2 comments

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  • November 19, 2015 at 7:58 am
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    Great and worthy initiative ,and the kind of campaign / cause where regional press can come to the fore and make a difference as long as they don’t try to grab the limelight themselves, this is about truly helping and working for the local communities
    good luck to all involved

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  • November 19, 2015 at 11:39 am
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    Why not go the extra 720lbs and campaign for three UK tons of food donations rather than three USA tonnes? My favourite tun holds cask ale.

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