THE Boys’ Brigade in Dunblane collected more than two tons of food for needy families thanks to their traditional Christmas collection for Startup Stirling’s crisis foodbank.

Some fifty volunteers and leaders were on hand at St Blane’s Hall shortly before Christmas, and donations were non-stop from beginning to end as local people dropped off food, drink, toiletries and cleaning supplies over a three-hour period to help keep the shelves stocked up at Startup’s warehouse right into January.

The enthusiastic youngsters helped by opening donations, labelling items and sorting into storage containers.

They even had to run to local businesses in the High Street to ask for extra boxes and containers when donations were so plentiful.

With help from community services, all the goods were transported to Startup Stirling’s foodbank and weighed, with news coming through a few days later that more than 2000kg of goods had been donated.

Twins Charlie and Daniel McCreery, both age nine, said: “We love helping at the food bank collection and we stayed for the three hours this time. It is great fun and it helps lots of people.”

Meanwhile, James Forrest, aged 14, has been helping at the annual event for four years now.

He added: “At BB, we have been learning about vulnerable groups in our community, and it is nice to do something practical and really useful for people, especially at Christmas, although we collect donations every month at BB, too.”

Paul Christmas, BB captain, said: “It was fantastic to again see such great support from Dunblane and surrounding areas for this. We love the fact that the event has become a true tradition now and we are proud to partner with Startup Stirling regularly.”

For more information on how to support Startup Stirling in the New Year, please visit www.startupstirling.org.uk.

For more information about the Boys’ Brigade in Dunblane, please see www.dunblanebb.org.uk, or visit their Facebook page to see a thank you video.