Eastfield charity to cope with Christmas demand thanks to public

Westway Open Arms helps those in need in a variety of ways and they have a foodbank

Author: Karen LiuPublished 22nd Dec 2021

People in and around Scarborough are being thanked for their donations so a charity can help those in need over Christmas.

Westway Open Arms, which is based in Eastfield, offers support in a number of ways including through their foodbank.

It says the festive period is a busy time for them as demand for help increases due to residents facing financial hardship.

Bernie Brown is the Centre Manager and said: "Christmas is a very busy time for us with everything that's happening with the uplift on universal credit and bills that are going through the roof for people, the demand is increasing.

"We have people donating the ingredients for Christmas dinners so we can help families with their Christmas dinners. There's so much that we do and it's not just about people in need of financial help or food.

"We also look at doing groups that are volunteer-led, so in the new year we're looking at bringing back our craft group, our luncheon club and we have a gardening group so there's so much that we do within the community. We're very lucky that we can do this.

"We are very lucky. We are extremely lucky with the amount of food and money that's donated, so many things like the time that volunteers put in working tirelessly. We don't run out of food and it's marvellous.

"It's not just organisations, it's churches but it's also individual people and it's not just this area of Scarborough; it's Filey, it's the surrounding villages and also as far out as Ryedale helped us out this year."

Hear all the latest news from across the UK on the hour, every hour, on Greatest Hits Radio on DAB, at greatesthitsradio.co.uk, and on the Greatest Hits Radio app.