Thousands of items of food were collected at Luton and Dunstable Hospital last week, in a food drive organised by the hospital’s adult and paediatric safeguarding teams. The team decided to hold the drive to build up stocks because during the school holidays the Food Bank struggles to meet the increased demands.

Toni Marie Doherty (pictured left) Adult Safeguarding Lead, said: “We knew our staff, patients and their families would respond well to our drive, but they have surpassed our wildest expectations and I would like to say a massive thank you to everyone who donated food. The response has been truly phenomenal. I would also like to say a big thank you to Sainsbury’s in Bramingham who collected food donations from their customers on our behalf during the week.”

The team hopes to hold another Food Bank drive in the run-up to the Christmas holidays.