Feed a Family This Christmas: See how your generosity has helped the needy

Food items and toiletries worth thousands of pounds have flooded in for this very worthy cause and will go to help families in need across the Black Country and Staffordshire.

Our drop-off points have been kept very busy during the four-week campaign thanks to the amazing kindness of you, our readers, and the wider community – and we've been able to support seven good causes. We've received at least 8,500 items but we still have many more to collect and count so we expect the final total to be much higher.

It's estimated the current total could provide in excess of 500 people with three days' worth of food.

Among the thousands of items we've received are 3,000 tins of baked beans, spaghetti, vegetables and fruit; 650 tins or packets of soup; 500 puddings, such as rice pudding, mouse and jelly; 430 bags of pasta and noodle pots; 420 packets of biscuits; 430 boxes of chocolates; 210 cartons of long-life milk; 170 bags of rice; 140 boxes of mince pies; 90 Christmas puddings and 500 toiletries and baby items.

In addition, we've also received small toys, children's books, knitted hats, socks, gloves and blankets. While some people have chosen to make anonymous cash donations which have been used to buy vital supplies for the charities.

Already, we've seen how some of your donations are helping those in need in the run-up to the festive season, visiting the Good Shepherd Ministry's food bank and soup kitchen, which is based at Darlington Street Methodist Church.

Staff and volunteers see an average of 280 people a day, helping them with hot meals at the church or delivering food parcels to them.

Behind the figures, each person has a story of their own. Among those receiving a meal was Leanne Hayes, aged 30, who was with her two-year-old daughter Ava Dillon and friends Michelle Greatpatch, 23, and Paul Handley, 29.

Leanne said donations carry a bit of extra weight at Christmas. She said: "It is really nice in here, we do have to come quite often but all of the people are so helpful.

"There was a Christmas meal here last week and we had carol singers and things like that, so it isn't just a case of them giving you food and then you going away. That is why I feel safe bringing my daughter here, there are people here you can trust.

"To me it is always nice to know people take time out to help others but at Christmas you really do need someone there."

Unfortunately the demand for assistance from places like the Good Shepherd is so high at present it takes a highly organised and dedicated team of volunteers to make sure nobody goes without. The Good Shepherd currently has 2,993 clients on its books and around 50 volunteers.

Donations made through our Feed A Family appeal added to those collected throughout the year by volunteers to ensure no-one goes hungry this Christmas.

We asked you for help to feed people in need this Christmas – and you answered in your thousands.

Literally thousands of food items and toiletries came flooding in to our drop-off points to help families and the homeless.

There was never any doubt that the people of the Black Country and Staffordshire have big hearts but we have been overwhelmed by the amazing depth of the generosity shown. You have been amazing.

From the supermarkets and businesses who agreed to hold collections, to the schools, scouts and shoppers who gave to the celebrities who backed our appeal, the response has been astonishing.

There was of course the fantastic gesture from the Goodyear workers who donated £500 towards the campaign.

But we also had people walk in off the street and hand over money to be used for the appeal. We even had one kind reader who knitted hats for the homeless.

Dozens of chocolates and selection boxes were donated for the children of the Haven refuge – and even a few toys.

There have been so many kind and heart-warming donations there are too many to list them all but we are grateful for each and every item handed in.

Every tin of soup, bag of pasta, bar of chocolate and bottle of shampoo will go to a needy home and help make Christmas a little easier for a family struggling at the moment.

It may be the only little treat a homeless person gets or to bring a smile to the face of a child facing a difficult Christmas. We know food banks are in demand all year round and it is terrible to think of families so desperately in need of help.

But at Christmas, more than any other time of year, families shouldn't be worrying about where the next meal will come from.

Thanks to the compassion and care of our readers and communities, hundreds of people will not have that dilemma this year.

We cannot thank you enough for such an incredible response to our campaign.

Thank you all – and here's to a happy Christmas for everyone.

Helen Holloway, admin manager, said working with organisations such as the Express & Star helps the Good Shepherd grow its reputation as a reliable place for people in need. She said: "It is heartbreaking to see so many people having no other place to go for food at Christmas but it is our responsibility to help.

"We don't just offer a meal or help with food to take home, we offer mental support and social support, we are here for these people as friends too.

"This is a time of year when people are more likely to give food as well so we can offer hot food for clients from Christmas Eve to New Years Day, which we are happy to do.

"Working with the Express & Star and supermarkets in our area, organisations that are part of the community, is good for us because we see there are people who recognise the problem and the need to help."

Another interesting piece of work carried out by the Good Shepherd is its volunteering programme, which gives clients who show an extra willingness to improve their life situation a chance to do so.

People who have visited the church hoping for some help with a meal have in a sense never left, volunteering whenever they can to show initiative to those who run the programme. This in turn means they are more likely to get assistance with finding a place to live or a full-time job.

One member of the programme, Robert Hayward, 38, from Whitmore Reans, said: "The scope of how much help you can get here is unreal, the people really are here for you. It is changing my life and I volunteer for much longer than asked, every day.

"That is because I want to make my life better and I want to help others in need."