Coleshill School Christmas hampers will provide a little extra festive cheer for struggling families after caring students helped collect food and festive treats to be distributed by a much-loved local charity.
For the fourth year Father Hudson’s annual appeal for essential items to help those in need has been supported by the Coleshill School, which is part of the respected Arthur Terry Learning Partnership.
Glyn Owen, head of Sixth Form, said: “Father Hudson originally contacted me, asking if we could help get perhaps 20 food hampers put together, which their team could distribute to needy families.
“At first, we did it only in the sixth form, and managed to get around 20 hampers, which made us realise what we could achieve going forward.
“So, from then onwards we spread it out to the rest of the school, and last year we managed 48 hampers, which was brilliant.
“But this year we really wanted to go for it and aimed for 60 hampers.”
The Coleshill School Christmas hampers contain essential foods, such as pasta, tinned goods and rice, and ingredients that help families cook nutritional meals.
But the Coleshill students also include festive treats to help add a little Christmas spirit to the hampers.
Mr Owen said: “Father Hudson’s give us a list of the kind of goods that they like to see, but then we also make sure that everybody gets a box of chocolates, a tin of biscuits, mince pies or a Christmas pudding.
“The charity has family support workers who distribute the hampers to people who need them, and the feedback that we get back is that they make a real difference.”
The scheme is driven by students, with the school’s Phase Three leadership team putting up posters and visiting tutor groups to encourage everyone to donate.
Mr Owen said: “Like most schools, we encourage charity events because we want students to be aware that helping others who are more in need is a good thing.
“I think it’s also very important that this particular scheme directly helps the Coleshill people, and our students learn to appreciate that they can support local families.
“It means that the students recognise there are people less fortunate than themselves in the local community and that they can make a difference. That’s a powerful lesson to learn, particularly at this time of year.”
Headteacher Ian Smith-Childs said: “We are very proud of how well our school community has pulled together to support this cause.”