Kind-hearted staff at Ballards LLP broke out the paper and sellotape to wrap gifts as part of the Lowesmoor lifeline’s latest bid to help those most in need.
In addition to food and supplies to those hit by the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, Worcester’s foodbank will be handing out Mother’s Day presents ahead of Mothering Sunday (March 19).
Ballards Business Services Partner Ben Allman said: “The Ballards team is very community-focused, and we all recognise the extreme pressure local communities are currently under, with many having to make the brave choice to ask for assistance.
“We were extremely grateful to have been asked to help.
Ruth Allsopp, operations co-ordinator at Worcester foodbank said: “Our volunteers are always looking for ways to make the most of donations we have received and bring a little bit of joy to our clients during difficult times.
“A prime example is in 2021 one of our volunteers, Heather Green, noticed a stock of toiletry gift sets stored away in one of the corners of the warehouse and suggested that we could wrap these up and give one to each client in the lead up to Mother’s and Father’s Day.
“We know from talking to our clients they aren’t often able to afford to treat that special person who has supported them, or often they are a parent who forgoes all luxuries to ensure their family doesn’t go without.
“We hoped these gifts would bring a smile to our clients faces, and we’ve got this reaction, sometimes tears too but happy of course.
“Since then, we have put any appropriate gifts to one side throughout the year and started wrapping them in the spring.
“This year we had accumulated 13 crates of lovely gifts and were so grateful when Ballards offered to wrap them for us.
“As we are volunteers at the foodbank, there is only a certain amount of capacity and wrapping this number of gifts would have taken many hours. They have done a beautiful job.”
