Feed a Family This Christmas: Time to dig deep and help the needy

But for those families across the Black Country and Staffordshire who are struggling to put a meal on the table every day can seem a bleak time of year.

The number of people turning to food banks for help is rising as more and people find it difficult to make ends meet. For many there is a 'heat or eat' choice.

Many thousands of emergency food parcels have been handed out across the Black Country and Staffordshire during the past six months.

• MORE: Where, what and why to donate to the Feed a Family campaign

You can bring your Feed A Family This Christmas donations to our Express & Star offices in Wolverhampton, Cannock and Stourbridge.

These are:

• Express & Star Wolverhampton head office: 51-53 Queen Street, Wolverhampton WV1 1ES

• Express & Star Cannock/Walsall office: Queen Square, Cannock WS11 1EA

• Express & Star Stourbridge office: 3 Market Street, Stourbridge DY8 1AB

We also have drop-off boxes for your donations at:

• Waitrose Wolverhampton, Penn Road, Wolverhampton WV2 4NJ.

• The Midcounties Co-operative Food Store Codsall - 28-32 Wood Lane/Bakers Way, Codsall WV8 1DB. Donations dropped off at this shop will be given to The Well – The Home of Wolverhampton Food Bank.

If your business would like to host a donation box please contact Heather Large on 01902 319501 or email heather.large@expressandstar.co.uk

Those seeking help have included single mothers struggling to feed their children and working families trying to survive on zero hour contracts.

Workers who have suddenly lost their jobs through redundancy or are finding hard to get employment can also need extra support.

The role of food banks and the struggle for many families has been in the national spotlight in recent weeks having been vividly and emotionally portrayed in the award-nominated Ken Loach film I, Daniel Blake.

Charities have revealed to us that the high demand on food banks featured in the film, and the causes such as delays in receiving benefits which leave people with no choice but to ask to help, are a true reflection of the situation today.

But the Express & Star wants to help these families and we need YOUR help.

We want to provide them with Christmas treats they would otherwise not be able to afford as well as supplying them with store-cupboard essentials .

Today we are launching our Feed a Family This Christmas Appeal which will support a number of food banks by providing vital supplies to families in need. We are asking for donations of festive food such as mince pies, chocolates and Christmas puddings as well as basics including canned goods, long-life milk, fruit juice, pasta and rice.

We would also be grateful for non-food items such as toiletries, new socks and small gifts. All of the items we receive will be shared out between food banks and other charitable organisations.

The good causes we will be supporting are The Well (Home of the Wolverhampton Food Bank), the Good Shepherd Ministry, based in Wolverhampton, the Black Country Food Bank, which has centres across Dudley, Sandwell and Walsall, Smethwick Food Bank, Walsall North Food Bank and Cannock and District Food Bank.

The Well (The Home of Wolverhampton Food Bank) helps an average of 8,000 people every year.

Caroline Price, from The Well, said: "This is a really valuable appeal - the need for food is real in the city and there will be people struggling this Christmas.

"From our point of view, there is a constant demand and a lot of people needing help. All of the donations go to the families who need it the most."

The Black Country Food Bank helps an average of 1,400 people per month. Of that figure around 40 per cent are children.

Volunteer of 11 years Kelvin Bates, aged 68, from Brierley Hill, said: "What this Express & Star appeal will hopefully do is raise awareness of what food banks do and who they help. A lot of people think because food banks tend to be Christian organisations that they have to be of a particular religion or faith to get help but that's not the case at all. A hungry person is a hungry person - it makes no difference to us."

The Good Shepherd, based at The Methodist Centre in School Street, had 2,993 on the list for help at the end of October. Of these 426 were families.

Between April and September this year, Smethwick Food Bank, part of the Trussell Trust network, gave out a total of 2,633 boxes of three-day food supply packages.

During the same period, 1,454 parcels were given out by Cannock and District Food Bank, also part of the Trussell Trust network, and 537 by Walsall North Food Bank. Val Asprey, project manager at Walsall, part of the Trussell Trust network, said the team was seeing an increasing demand for the three-day emergency food parcels.

"The number of people coming through the doors is increasing all the time and more and more people need help.

"This appeal will help so many people. It will really make a difference. It will help people that you will never meet but they will be very grateful."

We will also be supporting The Haven which provides support services to women and children who are affected by domestic violence and homelessness.

Community fundraising officer at The Haven, Jade Secker, said: "I think this appeal is a brilliant idea. It's great when the whole community comes together to support the most vulnerable people in the community."

Our campaign has also been backed by Wolves legend Steve Bull who appealed to readers to show their support. The 306-goal striker said: "There are so many people who are hungry and thirsty that need our help. It's not a lot to ask people to go to the supermarket and get a few extra tins to give.This is something we can all do."

While Dudley North MP Ian Austin,who has supported the Black Country Food Bank through donations from the MPs' pay rise and collections organised at Tesco, said: "It's terrible that local families are going hungry in the 21st century, and it is a scandal that food banks are needed at all, but it's great the Express and Star are launching this campaign.

"I know Black Country people are the most generous in Britain, and I know they'll rally round to back this great campaign."

Neil Maddox, store manager at The Midcounties Co-operative Food store in Codsall which has agreed to be a drop-off point, said: "As a Co-operative, we're committed to supporting our community and the Feed a Family This Christmas appeal is a great way to give a little extra help to families in need this Christmas.

"One of the food banks the appeal will be donating to is The Well, and I want to thank our local customers and colleagues for their continued generosity in supporting this important charity.

"All local Midcounties Food stores have supported this charity for some time and we've been able to donate more than 4,500 items of food and goods so far this year from the Codsall store alone, and we hope to collect much more through this appeal."

Andy Simpson, branch manager at Waitrose Wolverhampton, which is also a collection point, said: "Food banks do a fantastic job of helping those who need it most in our community, especially at this time of year. We're delighted to be working with the Feed a Family This Christmas campaign."

Express & Star Editor Keith Harrison said: "We are only too aware of the struggles faced by so many families across the Black Country and Staffordshire and really want to make a difference this Christmas.

"I would urge readers to help us support the food banks and charities who do such a fantastic job. Even the smallest donation will find a worthy home."