Haggerston Castle and Berwick holiday parks donate surplus goods to Northumberland food bank

Haggerston Castle and Berwick Holiday Park, both operated by Bourne Leisure, donated stock from their shops to Berwick Food Bank.

It will go to local residents in need, front line key workers, Berwick Youth Project and Hillside Lodge Care Home.

Significant contributions have also been made by the Leaping Salmon pub, Youth Hostel Association, Greggs and a number of smaller cafes, restaurants and shops.

Berwick Food Bank manager Becci Murray said: “We would like to say a huge thank you to all who have provided amazing donations and continue to support their efforts.

“The donations, both one off and ongoing, from local businesses and individuals have been amazing.

“We have been able to support all requests for food as well as supplying smaller food banks and food distribution points like Wooler, Seahouses, Bell View and the Youth Project.

“Additionally we have supported a large number of residents in sheltered accommodation who are shielding. We are very well placed to continue to support the needs of our community and do not anticipate any problems with meeting demand.”

Berwick Food Bank, run by Berwick Community Trust at the William Elder Building, is open five days a week and is supporting Berwick residents and the wider community.

It is operating a different system to normal, all contact to ask for food or for large donations is by phone. 01289 303366.

“This way we can make sure that both our staff and the public are as safe as possible and we will arrange for people to visit at specified times to avoid meeting others,” explained Becci.

“We are also quarantining all donations to ensure that we know the parcels are as safe as they can be.

“We have a skeleton staff operating a teams/shift system to make sure that we can keep things running as need rises, so please be patient if we don’t answer the phone immediately, leave a message and we will call you back.”

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