A "reverse advent calendar" has been set up by a food bank to help families who need items after Christmas Day.

The Bedford Foodbank is asking for donations such as tinned fruit, saucepans and tea bags in the New Year.

Sarah Broughton, project manager, said January could be a "bleak month" as many people had spent their money. It has a list of 24 most-needed items and asked for donations to start in January, rather than on 1 December.

Wendie Harvey, the chief executive of Bedford-based charity Family and Children's Early-help Services (Faces), said: "People just don't realize how hard January is as most families have spent the money they have making sure the children have something."

Mr. Broughton said their warehouse was "bursting at the seams" before Christmas, but things were expected to change, as people with "very strict budgets" would still need their help afterwards. She said a man called to make a donation and she asked him to delay it by a few weeks and he told her that was a "brilliant idea".

The charity said it feeds about 650 people a month, and handed out 3,500 food parcels in the last 12 months.

 

Source: BBC News