BIG-HEARTED staff from Sandwell Council have donated tins and packets to families in need this Christmas.

The 'Bring A Tin To Work Week' saw employees give nearly 2,000 tins and packets of food, which will be distributed to food banks across Sandwell.

Sainsbury's in Oldbury also sent a trolley full of items for the collection which takes the total items donated by council staff to food banks over the past two years to around 6,000.

Sandwell Mayor Councillor Derek Rowley was delighted with the festive haul.

He said: “It’s great that council staff have shown such Christmas spirit again by bringing in items that will help families in need.

"We also thank Sainsbury's Oldbury, and their charity co-ordinator Louise Griffiths-Wood, for bringing over a trolley full of items for our collection this afternoon.

He added: “Food banks provide emergency food for people in crisis – one-third of whom are children aged under 16.

“Most of these people rely on the food bank for two or three weeks while they get themselves back on their feet after some sort of crisis – maybe bereavement or separation or quite often the gap between redundancy and the start of benefit payments.”

All food collected will be taken to the Sandwell Food Bank and then shared out to others as required.

For those wanting to organise collections, food can be dropped off at the food bank at the West Bromwich Community Church, Victoria Street.

Items that can be donated include milk (UHT or powdered), sugar, soup (tinned), tomatoes, other vegetables or fruit (tinned), tinned meat, fish, pasta sauces, sponge pudding, rice pudding (tinned), cereals (small box), tea bags and instant coffee, instant mashed potato, rice, pasta and jam.

For more information contact Keith Turner on 07960 898933 for opening times.