ANDOVER Foodbank has launched its annual appeal to help fill 1,200 Christmas hampers for families living in crisis.

The charity is asking individuals, businesses, and community groups to spread a little festive cheer to make it possible for others to enjoy rather than survive Christmas this festive season.

Donations of long-life seasonal goodies such as tinned ham, Christmas pudding and chocolates could make all the difference in a year which has been challenging for so many in our local community.

Donations of these items need to be delivered to the foodbank at St John the Baptist Church, Alexandra Road, Andover, by Monday, November 27.

Head of Andover Foodbank Chloe Roberts said: “Last year we delivered 970 hampers to our partners in the Andover area to give to their clients. More than 75 per cent of these were to struggling families and the rest brought a little cheer to individuals or couples who had very little. This year has seen demand for our service increase, and we are expecting to give out more hampers than ever before.”

The foodbank has already received requests for more than 1,200 Christmas gift boxes for local children and will be distributing these to agencies next week.

Chloe added: “Donating to our Christmas projects is an impactful and rewarding endeavour for groups of work colleagues, clubs or families looking to embrace the spirit of Christmas and make a real difference in the lives of those who would otherwise go without at this special time of year. We are hoping we can create a lot of smiles on Christmas Day.”

To take part, simply choose a range of items from the 12 Days of Christmas list and drop them into the foodbank or at the collection points in supermarkets around town.

There is more information on the Andover Foodbank website, andover.foodbank.org.uk.