THE countdown is on for people to donate food for hungry families this Christmas, as part of the Post's Five Tons of Tins campaign.
With just five days to go until the campaign ends on Christmas Eve, we are encouraging people to make sure they hand in their tin collections to their nearest food bank in time for the big count.
Schools, churches, businesses and community groups have been collecting since October 21, when we launched our ambitious target to collect five tons of tins – equivalent to more than 11,000 tins – for local food banks.
Sue Goodfellow, manager at the Pretty Windows Day Nursery, in Sneinton, said the children and their parents had helped fill four boxes since the nursery joined the campaign.
Mrs Goodfellow said: "Our pre-school children have been wonderful at bringing in tins and we can see that our parents and staff have been right behind them.
"The children have learnt about the importance of giving to people in need and about not asking Santa for too many presents."
She added that it wasn't just people associated with the nursery who were handing in tins.
She said: "We've had people randomly handing armfuls of tins to us as well. We love helping out in our local community and it has been great to see such overwhelming support from everyone in the area for the Five Tons of Tins campaign."
The Clifton food bank has also seen an increase in donations thanks to the Post's campaign. Wendy White, a volunteer at the food bank, said: "It has been extremely busy with people dropping stuff off all the time.
"We are so grateful to the Post for publicising food banks and letting people know where to bring tins to. It has really helped."
She added that, due to the overwhelming number of donations, the food bank was able to start handing out "double" packages this Christmas.
She said: "We have been able to sort out two packages for families in need instead of one so that they have enough for over the Christmas period. The support has been wonderful."
Cropwell Butler Methodist Chapel, in Tithby Road, Cropwell Butler, will hold a collection for tins at its Christmas Eve service, which starts at 6.30pm.
Church member Marian Henstock said: "We heard about the Post's campaign and thought it would be good to support it.
"We know that in this day and age there is a great need for food banks in Notts and we thought as a church we should be involved in helping out."
People who have collected tins should hand them in to their nearest food bank by Christmas Eve, mentioning they are a contribution to the Five Tons of Tins campaign. A list of food banks was included with the collection box.
If you would like to let us know how your collection is going, or if you have been helped by a food bank and would like to tell your story, contact Emily Winsor on 0115 905 1951 or e-mail emily.winsor@nottinghampostgroup.co.uk.
