Wednesbury Rotary Club donates £1,000 to food bank to 'lift the gloom'

The Rotary Club of Wednesbury donated the substantial sum after receiving around £12,500 from its Christmas Santa float event in December.

Club treasurer and Wednesbury local, Mike Warner, 87, handed the check over to Breaking Bread food bank on Walsall Street, Wednesbury as its first major handout following the Santa float success.

Mike Warner said: "The main thing to recognise from all of this is that the money we generate goes straight into helping the people in the Wednesbury community.

"I think we are all Wednesbury people and the club has a significant history in supporting the people, the town and the individual activity groups that makes Wednesbury a great place to live."

In December the Rotary club held its annual 17-night Santa float parade, supported by different youth and activity groups in the area, generating around £12,500 to put back into the Wednesbury community.

Mr Warner added: "With everything going on I really thought this time that we wouldn't get the response that we normally get, but we absolutely did, and that has to say something about what people think of the club and their local community.

"This is the first step in saying thank you to all of the groups that support us in our events and fundraisers, and in giving back to this fantastic community that we all very much love."

Lin Walford, manager at Breaking Bread food bank, added: "The donation is absolutely fantastic, it is really appreciated and with the situation what it is, we get more and more people every week.

"We think it's more important now than ever and any donations, even if it's a couple of tins, is so helpful. When this sort of thing happens it makes you realise that there are a lot of nice people out there."

The Rotary club also plan on giving some of the money to different youth organisations in the area, with plans to donate funds to the Boys' Brigade, Girl Guides, and Fire Cadets.

The club now plans to use some of the money to hold its annual Wednesbury summer carnival on July 8.

Mr Warner said: "A huge thank you must be given to all of our supporters who help us with these amazing fundraisers. We now look forward to holding our summer carnival which is always a great event in Wednesbury.

"I think in the end what this shows is that the Rotary group is here to help the town – every bit of money we generate goes straight into the town and the people. The people who need this money and want to take it up, we will support."