This year, YMCA Burton’s Easter Campaign focused on raising money for their Foodbank.

Whilst the Foodbank relies on donations made by members of the public, businesses, schools, colleges, churches, and community groups; there are still other costs that need to be met such as buying additional food, storage, carrier bags and utility costs.

Currently, an emergency food parcel contains 28 food items which will feed someone three meals for three days. The food parcel contains food to the value of £24.46 per parcel.

The Foodbank has helped over 1,400 people in the first quarter of this year and with the rising costs of living set to increase further, YMCA Burton believe their service will be in even higher demand.

Their Easter campaign consisted of their annual Apne Curry evening – which was resumed this year after a two-year break due to Covid-19.  Diners enjoyed a three-course meal, entertainment from local singer Chris Baldwin and a raffle and auction, which was led by TV’s Richard Winterton.

YMCA Burton also held a fashion and shopping event at Riverside church. Co-hosted by SOS Fashions, they were able to offer an evening with a catwalk show, reduced high street brands and homemade cake too.

Schools in the local area also donated towards the Easter Campaign, with Paget High School holding a non-uniform day which raised £446 after a series of assemblies held by the charity that week. Riverview School also held a non-uniform day and raised £260 following a visit from YMCA Chaplain Grace Evans.

Collating all the contributions from the events, the schools work and private/corporate donations, YMCA Burton are pleased to announce £7318 was raised towards their foodbank service.

This will make such a huge difference to the lives of many local people who are struggling to feed themselves or their families over the coming months as they experience food poverty.

Paul Laffey, CEO of Burton YMCA said “How wonderful to be back hosting in-person events again. The Easter campaign has been brilliant with lots of community support, and we thank everyone for supporting us, from donating prizes to buying tickets to the events. The target was to help towards the foodbank, and we know this amount raised will secure it for the next few months.”

Paula Senior, Fundraising and Partnerships manager said: “We have loved this last month of fundraising and seeing new and familiar faces at our events. We are always interested to hear from people with their ideas for fundraising in the community, schools, or businesses. If you have an idea and would like to raise money for the YMCA, please give us a call on 01283 538802”

As YMCA Burton celebrate their 135-year anniversary this year, keep a look out for other events during the year on their website www.burtonymca.org or social media platforms.