Thank you to Salvation Army
from Sally-Anne
by 'James Brindle' (Uttoxeter Advertiser)
A TOWN support group has paid tribute to the work of a charity organiser after families in need in Uttoxeter were able to enjoy a happy Christmas thanks to his help.
Sally-Anne Ploughman from the Local Support Team from Staffordshire County Council which works with children, young people and families in the Uttoxeter area from its High Street base approached the charity for help.
She approached Vic Wileman, the Uttoxeter representative for The Salvation Army, after an ‘unprecedented demand’ for food from families the council has been working with.
She told the Advertiser that the response from Mr Wileman and his team was ‘overwhelming’.
She said: “Somehow thank you just doesn’t feel like enough. We requested support from The Salvation Army for food parcels for families we were working with after having an unprecedented demand for food.
“Before I knew it we had 23 banana boxes of food outside our offices at the Red Gables in High Street. And it was real high-quality food as well.
“Vic was like Father Christmas at the end of the line. I just rang him and said we were desperate for food parcels and he just sorted it.
Then I rang again and asked if we could get any presents as many of the families would be going without.
“He just said how many people were in the family and the ages of the children and he just sorted it and the presents were even already wrapped for us.
“It was overwhelming and I can’t thank him enough. Without them a huge amount of families would have gone without this Christmas.” Mr Wileman, who had appealed on behalf of The Salvation Army prior to Christmas for donations, said people in the town had been ‘truly wonderful’ in their giving.
He said: “This has enabled us to deliver some 79 Christmas food parcels (33 last year), in addition to our normal emergency food parcels deliveries, plus helping Santa with the delivery of some 200 presents for the children.
“We also had some 500 plus coats (plus hats, scarves, gloves etc) some 200 have been delivered so far to homeless people, the elderly and children in need of warmth.
“The people in the area have been truly wonderful in their giving. At the Uttoxeter charity shop we have had a donate a tin campaign as well and again the people of Uttoxeter have been wonderful.”