It was heart-warming to see the mountain of decorated food boxes filled with Christmas food and festive treats donated by our boys and their families for this year’s All Nations Church’s ‘Christmas in a Box’ appeal.
Every boy in the Prep School was asked to donate just one or two items from a shopping list, which included things such as stuffing and mince pies. Their combined donations should have created 24 boxes – one for each tutor group. However, this year, there was enough to fill 33 boxes! Not to mention a further box of food for the Bedford FoodBank as well as a box full of toys.
Working together with their class to create their ‘Christmas in a Box’ for local families in crisis, the boys also learned about the difficulties many families face week in and week out, but especially at Christmas, in feeding their families. It is estimated that that 2.5 million British children, or 19%, now live in food-insecure households who at times do not have enough money to acquire enough food, or they cannot buy the full variety of foods needed for a healthy diet. A very sobering thought at this time of celebration for so many.
To be able to play a small part in helping local families in crisis through the ‘Christmas in a Box’ appeal, which last year distributed over 850 boxes reaching over 1,900 people in Bedford, is humbling.
