Hundreds of food parcels handed out by volunteers over Christmas
A man who has been joined by volunteers in organising food parcels for hundreds of people over Christmas says demand means they are likely to continue into the New Year.
Ian Preece's normal job is working as a football development officer for the Shropshire FA, but when Marcus Rashford launched his campaign on Free School Meals he decided to see what he could do to help people facing hardship.
After appealing for food and delivering parcels to hundreds of people during the October half term he has continued his efforts – with the support of a host of donations and a raft of local volunteers – after the schools broke up for Christmas.
In total 787 people have now received food parcels as a result of the efforts, with donations and help from staff at Muller, Telford Junior League, Dawley Town, and AFC Telford amongst others.
Ian's employer, Shropshire FA, also allowed him to use their van to make the deliveries, which went to homes across the county in the run up to Christmas – often late into the evening after work.
Staff from the FA also volunteered to help bag up and deliver bags of food.
Ian said: "We are nearly up to 800 and that's remarkable really. From where we started I never thought it would be this popular. We only did it for the local area but we were getting people from across Telford, then started getting messages from places like Shrewsbury and Wem, Rodington, where there are families struggling."
On Christmas Eve Ian and volunteers set up at Sutton Hill, Brookside, and Woodside, in Telford with more than 100 people turning out to collect bags of food.
He said: "When we went to the first drop-off at Brookside we had 90 bags in the back made up ready.
"We had to go back to AFC Telford to get more to give out because there was a queue waiting and it was heartbreaking."
Ian said more and more people were needing help due to the impact of the Covid crisis on employment.
He said: "What really chokes me is you get people crying, a couple of our volunteers said there were people crying who had not asked for help before and it really gets you.
"Obviously we were going to stop and start again next half term but we are going to carry on now because I feel January will be a really hard month for these people. We have their addresses so we can contact them in case."
Ian offered his thanks to all those who had donated and volunteered.
He said: "It is wonderful how people have come together. A lot of people have donated to help other people in their own community. It is great community support being shown to people who are having a hard time. We have also had wonderful help from volunteers who have given up their time to make sure they can help people. That's what community is about."
Anyone who wishes to support the efforts or donate can email ianpreece@shropshirefa.com
