ON Friday I participated in Tesco’s National Foodbank Collection in Greenock, organised in partnership with The Trussell Trust and Fareshare, and since their first Food Collection in 2012, Tesco have donated over 30 million meals to help support people in need across the UK.

I therefore want to highlight the work of the i58 Project. The i58 Project is best known for managing Inverclyde Foodbank, but also manages Inverclyde’s Baby Bank, Toy Bank (formerly Every Kid Deserves a Toy at Christmas Inverclyde), Uniform Bank and works with Inverclyde CAP (Christians Against Poverty) Debt Centre.

Since Inverclyde Foodbank opened in February 2012, they have fed over 19,000 people, almost 5,000 of which were children. To put this into context, the population of Inverclyde is around 80,000 people.

I’d like to remind my constituents then, as we gear up for Christmas, to consider donating, if you can, something to Inverclyde Foodbank and Inverclyde Toy Bank.

For those struggling to provide food for their families, it’s likely they may not be able to afford Christmas presents for their children.

Consequently, the i58 Project is seeking donations for their Christmas Food Hampers and Toy Parcels. As a local community we have joined together to help support those in our midst who need some support this Christmas. Please do so again this year.

You can donate items to the i58 Project at their West Blackhall Street facility (beside Bank of Scotland) every Monday, Wednesday and Friday between 1 and 4pm, or you can drop off items at my constituency office between Monday and Friday, 9-5pm.