• Our mission
  • Mission statement
  • What homeless means
  • Facts and figures
• What's going on
  • The 3 day event
  • The hamper project
  • The voucher project
  • The current appeal
• How to help
  • Volunteer
  • Donate online
  • Donate funds
  • Donate items
  • Contact us
• Who's involved
  • The Committee
  • The Volunteers
  • Volunteers' Guide
• Project history
  • The story so far
  • Photo gallery
  • Letters of thanks
• Get our help
  • Contact us
  • How to find us

The hamper project

What is the hamper project?

We all enjoy eating well at Christmas. However, if you are struggling at Christmas, eating well can be a struggle and a great cause of distress. Throughout the year we collect non-perishable food items from generous shoppers and volunteers which we put together to give to a family to ease their need for food at Christmas.

You can help us for free!

We could benefit from “buy 1 get 1 free” offers etc. at no cost to you! Food given for Christmas should (if possible) be in date until the end of the following January or later.

What do we try to put in each hamper?

Depending on the donations that we receive, we try to include the following items:

• 2 tins of (different) soups
• 1 tin of baked beans
• 1 tin of spaghetti
• 1 tin of tomatoes
• 1 tin of fruit (or 2 if very small)
• 1 tin of meat
• 1 tin of fish
• 1 tin of potatoes
• 2 tins of (different) vegetables
• 1 tin of evaporated milk
• 1 jar of jam or marmalade
• 1 bag of sugar
• 1 packet of tea
• 1 jar of coffee
• 1 carton of longlife milk
• 1 sachet of custard
• 1 box of mince pies
• 1 loo roll
• toothbrushes (at least for the children)
• toothpaste (children’s if possible)
• 1 bottle of shampoo
• 1 bar of soap
• 2 longlife lightbulbs (1 pack)
• 1 cake e.g. ginger cake
• 1 tube of smarties
• 1 chocolate bar
• extra festive items e.g. box of chocolates/sweets/toiletries + small presents

In 2008 this hamper was given to a family with up to 2 children and a large family received two hampers. We rely heavily on donations of food to enable us to meet all hamper requests, although our Appeal funds are used to purchase part of the contents

Remember, you can help us for free!

w We could benefit from “buy 1 get 1 free” offers etc. at no cost to you! Food given for Christmas should (if possible) be in date until the end of the following January or later.