KIND parishioners and thoughtful members of the public helped a Gourock church collect no fewer than 60 bags of essential supplies for people in need.

Old Gourock and Ashton Parish Church set up a donation point for Inverclyde Foodbank from July 6 to 13 and they were swamped with donations.

The congregation collects for the cause a couple of times a year - and was determined to continue with the appeal this time around despite coronavirus restrictions.

Session clerk Jim Hempsey said: "We collect for the foodbank at this time of the year, when the church is usually operating.

"May Gordon, convener of the community interests committee of the church session, suggested that the collection should continue.

"We ordered a couple of new blue wheelie bins from the council and secured them to the fence in the grounds of the church, as folk couldn't get into the church to leave donations.

"We're so pleased with the volume of items donated."

The Inverclyde Foodbank collection usually runs in conjunction with the Gourock Schools and Churches Together campaign, led by minister and school chaplain David Burt.

The team at Old Gourock and Ashton asked people to provide their email addresses during lockdown to keep in touch and news of the collection was passed on via email and word of mouth.

Jim and the team are delighted with the number of bags collected and know that the donation will make a big difference to the vital community resource.

Jim added: "The collection was the church without the schools this year but we had a lot of donations from people in the area.

"Trying to help people in need is a big part of what we represent as a community.

"We're very pleased to be able to help.

"Thank you to everyone who donated and made it such a success."