Kind-hearted north-east residents have been donating food packages to help vulnerable families enjoy Christmas.
Festive packs have been made up at the Harvest Centre foodbank in Banff with toiletries gifted from the international Catholic charity The Companions of the Knights of Malta.
Charity organiser Angus Hay said: “There’s about 25 of us who work in Scotland and we help those in need in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Dundee, as well as Aberdeen, where we started last year for the first time.
“We’re constantly expanding so this year I’ve brought it to Banff because the pastor was interested in our help.
“Usually we work alongside Tesco and Primark to host a food event or give out clothes. This is the first time we’ve worked with a foodbank to give out parcels.”
Parcels will also include a Christmas card tucked inside, along with festive selection boxes.
One of the volunteers said: “I had an elderly man once, who has passed away now – he was happy with the food and felt so blessed when he got the card, as it was the only one he had received that year.”
Meanwhile, in the neighbouring town of Macduff, staff at Refresco Drinks UK Ltd on Old Gamrie Road collected more than 125 coats to be given to charities set up to help the homeless.
Garments were taken in from residents living in Macduff, Fordyce, Banff and further across the area including Fraserburgh.
Equality manager Sally Smith said: “Refresco is part of a corporate group encouraging the support of local charities.
“We’re collecting the coats and will be dividing them between the Aberdeen Cyrenians and Social Bite who both help the homeless.
“So far we have about 32 boxes full of coats which is about four per box.
“We chose the two charities and made sure people knew about the appeal using social media.
“The response has been great.
“We’ve also raised some money in a raffle so we’ll be making a small monetary donation to keep them going through the year too.”
