Member Article

Food for thought from housing association

Christmas came early at Midlands-bsed social housing and care provider Housing Plus Group, which has been making deliveries of store cupboard essentials and seasonal treats to food banks in Staffordshire and Shropshire.

Each year the Group - which includes South Staffordshire Housing Association, Severnside Housing, Stafford and Rural Homes and Care Plus - uses the weeks before Christmas to support people and communities in need.

Generous staff fundraise for local and national charities and collect donations for food banks.

The housing services team in Stafford visited the Cannock & District Food Donation Centre in Chadsmoor to deliver more than 75kg of food that they had donated. Colleagues are also donating their time at the House of Bread Café 45 in Stafford where they are helping to serve food and drinks to local families.

Staff in the Group’s offices in Shropshire have been operating a ‘reverse advent calendar’, making daily donations to a collection for the Shrewsbury food bank.

For the men and women who look after the homes of tenants, it has been a year-round campaign. Every time they pick-up paint and supplies, they collect loyalty card points which are exchanged for food bank vouchers at Christmas. This year that added-up to £300 shared between food banks in Staffordshire and Shropshire.

It was a time for giving for people living and working in Care Plus retirement living communities too, with bumper bags of donations for families at Christmas.

“Making a positive difference is hugely important to all of us,” said Jan Goode, neighbourhoods director at Housing Plus Group. “The generosity of colleagues has been overwhelming this year. As a Group, we’re backing their hard work with a donation to fund Christmas food parcels in our communities.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Chick .