Feed a Family This Christmas: Generous Goodyear staff donate £500 of food
"We can't just do nothing when we know people are struggling." These are the words of generous Goodyear workers in Wolverhampton who have donated a staggering £500 worth of food to our Feed a Family This Christmas appeal.
It's the biggest single donation made to our campaign since it started three weeks ago and means the number of items handed over so far stands at more than 4,000 thanks to the incredible support we've received from the community.
Despite the Goodyear factory winding down ahead of its closure on December 20, workers said they wanted to continue its 'proud history' of supporting the community until the end.
The Goodyear branch of Unite the Union used its generous cash donation to buy supplies from Blakemore Wholesaler.
Bosses at the cash and carry agreed to let members purchase their items at 'cost price' so their money could go further.
The massive donation is made up of more than 760 items and includes large tins of soup, pasta, coffee, cereal, rice pudding, bottles of squash, pots of noodles, bags of sugar and toilet rolls.
Cyril Barrett, chairman of the Goodyear branch of Unite who has worked at the factory for almost 40 years, said members were more than happy to help the appeal.
He said: "Sadly Goodyear is closing after 89 years and most of my members are losing their jobs at Christmas.
"We've got a long history of supporting the community in Wolverhampton and the Black Country.
"When we saw the plight of the homeless and families who are really struggling in and around Wolverhampton then we wanted to support them.
"We can't just do nothing when we know people are struggling.
"We understand the difficulties that families are going through and we wanted this proud history of helping others to continue right to the end.
"It's also very fitting that we can help out in this way for Christmas. It shows the kindness and generosity of Unite members at Goodyear even at this difficult time. Over the years we've raised more than £600,000 for local charity causes."
Mark Jenkins, Goodyear worker and Unite convenor, added: "We all believe it's a good cause because there are people struggling out there and we want to help make their lives a little bit easier."
Linda Thompson, catering development manager at Blakemore Wholesale in Coxwell Avenue, Wolverhampton, said: "We agreed to let them buy at cost price which meant they could get more for their money and Blakemore doesn't benefit from it so it all goes to the charities.
"We try to do a lot to support local charities – we already support the Good Shepherd Ministry so we were very happy to support this appeal."
Express & Star Deputy Editor Diane Davies said: "This was an amazing donation from the Goodyear workers. It is a huge boost to our appeal and will help some many needy families and homeless people over the coming weeks. We have been so grateful for all the support we have had from our communities. But we want to help as many people as possible so please donate anything you can this week so we can help deliver a much-needed treat to homes this Christmas."
How to help the appeal:
The appeal is running until Wednesday so there is still time for people get involved and all of the items we receive are being passed on to food banks and charitable organisations. The good causes being supported by Feed A Family This Christmas are The Well (The home of 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.
Donations can be left at Express & Star offices, in Queen Street, Wolverhampton; Queen Square, Cannock, and Market Street, Stourbridge.
People can also take donations to Waitrose, Penn Road, Wolverhampton; The Co-operative Food, Wood Lane/Bakers Way, Codsall, and The Co-op, High Holborn, Sedgley.
