CHRISTMAS is a time for giving, and one local organisation is hoping Westbury residents will look a little closer to home this year.
Westbury Area Network (WAN) is a volunteer-run charity organisation which runs Westbury’s food bank scheme, serving Westbury and the surrounding villages. The charity also manages Westbury’s two community fridges which prevents surplus food from being wasted. This year, WAN is asking for generous locals to help those less fortunate and donate gifts that could brighten someone’s Christmas.
Linda Hallowell, a WAN trustee said, “We’ve seen an increase of people coming to us who have not traditionally struggled in the past, but more and more people are struggling this year. People are struggling to find a balance between paying bills, keeping warm and being able to buy little treats – everyone deserves to have a good Christmas regardless of their financial situation.
“The things we are always on the look-out for are the basics; toilet roll, long-life milk, any tinned items, tea bags, coffee and sugar, shower gel and shampoo. We would also love anything people think families or children will appreciate for Christmas, as they deserve a treat too.”
Linda added, “We don’t often get to see what is behind people’s smiles and sometimes people are really struggling.
“As an example, we recently had a young child who had a birthday, and we managed to find something age appropriate for them that had been donated. When we gave the puzzle to her, her mum was nearly in tears, bless her, as she had been struggling to pay her electricity bill.
“In lockdown, we distributed out boxes of items from Aldi that were soon to go out of date, and we were given some flowers by the supermarket. When we added them to the boxes, one lady was in tears because that was something she couldn’t get herself. She said it was so nice to think that other people were thinking about her.”
WAN continues to operate the town’s two community fridges – one in their base at the Westbury Community Project (WCP) in Eden Vale Road and at Crosspoint in the Market Place. They will also be continuing their donated supermarket box scheme on Christmas Eve, with the details yet to be confirmed.
Donations can be taken to Crosspoint, in Westbury Market Place, who are open Mondays 2.30pm-5pm, Wednesdays 2.30pm-5pm and Saturdays 10am-12.30pm, or at the Westbury Community Project in Eden Vale Road, who are open Monday to Friday, between the hours of 8.30am-10.30am and 2.30pm-4.30pm.
