College donates trolley loads of food and toiletries to help those in need this Christmas.

A huge collection of donated food and toiletries from Havering Colleges was delivered to local foodbanks after a campaign by students and staff to help families in crisis this Christmas.

Trolleys and crates were crammed full of goods such as pasta, shower gel, nappies, tins, biscuits, tea bags, cereal, sweets and juice which had been generously brought in by the college community in the three borough campuses – Ardleigh Green, the Sixth Form and Rainham.

Weighing an incredible 330kgs, the items were bagged up and delivered by Ardleigh Green campus Deputy Principal Ian Budge to the Harold Hill Foodbank and the Rainham Foodbank to be passed on to those most in need in the local area in time for Christmas.

Ian, who personally loaded and unloaded the delivery van, said: “The foodbanks were extremely grateful for the amount of donations and asked me to pass on their thanks and best wishes to staff and students who had organised the collections and donated items.”

Along with the food donations, the college was also happy to present the sum of £500 to the Rainham foodbank which was donated by Ashe Construction. Ashe are currently building the state-of-the-art Construction & Engineering Centre at the college’s Rainham campus in New Road. Ashe pride themselves on their community involvement and in the last three years they have raised over £15,000 for local charities.

Havering Colleges can help local families or students who are struggling or living below the poverty line. As part of its partnership with the Trussell Trust – an organisation which works to stop UK hunger – the college can issue foodbank vouchers and volunteer students have been delivering essential items to residents in the community.