2020

You've helped raise £21,000 in 48 hours

Date Posted: 4:19 PM on Mon, 6 April 2020

Gedling residents raise £20,000 in 48 hours as dozens of food parcels are delivered to elderly and vulnerable residents

Residents from Gedling Borough Council have helped raise £20,000 in just 48 hours for local food banks. The Mayor of Gedling, Councillor Sandra Barnes, launched the campaign on Friday and by Sunday, the target had been achieved and is still rising.

The money raised will be used to purchase food for several local food banks and dozens of parcels have already been delivered to people in need from the council’s newly opened ‘super food bank’ Giving for Gedling Humanitarian Centre at the Richard Herrod Centre in Carlton.

All forty-one Gedling Borough Councillors kick-started the fundraiser by donating £250 each from their Councillors Community Funds totalling £10,250. Donations ranging from £5 to £250 were made on the council’s fundraising page, which has, so far, received over 300 donations and is currently totalling £21,550. The money will be collected over the next few days and then will be used to support food banks across the borough who are struggling to cope with the extra demand caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

The council has also seen huge numbers of people get in touch through its Giving for Gedling website, launched two weeks ago in response to the outbreak. So far, the council has received over 300 requests for support and over 400 offers to help from volunteers.

Over the weekend, the council’s Neighbourhood Wardens collected hundreds of parcels from Nottinghamshire County Council and dozens of parcels were delivered to residents from the Giving for Gedling Humanitarian Centre.

Leader of Gedling Borough Council, Councillor John Clarke said;

“We have been amazed by the incredible generosity of our residents. They have helped us raise over £20,000 in just 48 hours and every penny will go towards the local humanitarian response to the Coronavirus outbreak. I want to thank every single person who has donated and I would also like to thank all the volunteers and council staff who have assembled so quickly to get the food out to those who need it the most. We have an ethos at Gedling Borough Council that is serving people, improving lives and the work that has taken place over the last few days to help our most vulnerable residents, epitomises that ethos completely. Thank you.”