A DALE family’s idea to sacrifice a weekly takeaway treat has resulted in the largest single donation to a foodbank.
Middleton-in-Teesdale resident Brigitte Hodgson’s idea to carry out a £40 online shop for The Well foodbank, in West Auckland, snowballed to the point that an entire van was filled with much-needed goodies ahead of Christmas.
Mrs Hodgson said her family started getting a weekend takeaway during the coronavirus lockdown as a way to support local businesses as well as to have a little treat.
However, they decided during the first weekend of December to forego the treat and instead use the cash to do an online shop for the foodbank.
She said: “I took a photo of it and put it on Facebook hoping it would inspire others to do the same. It didn’t quite go to plan because almost immediately I got three messages saying ‘if I give you some money could you do the online shopping for me’.”
Mrs Hodgson decided to open the offer to anyone on Facebook and was taken aback when the amount kept growing to a grand total of £540.
She said: “I was blown over that anyone would give me even £40. I had to book four delivery slots to have the food delivered. The last delivery came at 26 minutes past ten on Thursday night. I am blown away by the kindness, thought and love shown” .
Together with foodbank collections at Middleton-in-Teesdale Primary School, the village Co-op and Utass (Upper Teesdale Agricultural Support Services) an entire mini-bus was filled with goodies destined for The Well.
Among the treats were mince pies, selection boxes for children, festive cakes, preservatives, bubble bath and shower gel.
Co-ordinator for The Well Ann Brown said the delivery came as a huge surprise.
She added: “We were certainly in awe of it. It is the biggest single donation we have ever received.
“The upper Teesdale group are so generous throughout the year, but this was an amazing donation.”
She added that about 50 Christmas hampers would go out to needy families across the area – from Cotherstone and Barnard Castle to Evenwood and Cockfield, and further afield to Coundon and Spennymoor.
![A COUNTY councillor is backing a campaign to get a pedestrian crossing in Staindrop. Frustrated parish councillors in the village summoned their county council representative Cllr George Richardson to their latest meeting to discuss several issues, including the call for a safe way to cross the A688. Earlier this year their request for a crossing was turned down by the county council’s highways officers. Parish council chairman Jonothan Raper described the reasons for the refusal as “spurious” and called on Cllr Richardson to support their campaign. He added: “One of the arguments they made was there is no clear line of desire when they studied the village – well this isn’t a clear line of desire because there isn’t a crossing, people cross whenever they can. “When the lollipop person was there, one of the things I noticed was people would walk all the way down to the lollipop person to cross the road to go to the shop or to go to the school.” He added a problem of parking at the primary school is exacerbated because people are too afraid to walk their children across the road. Cllr Richardson said he had supported previous attempts for a crossing point with the first being made about 15 years ago. He added: “We went fairly well down the road with that and they looked into it. The only recommended place was where the bus stop is and to get the visibility splays, people on the other side of the road would lose their parking. “That didn’t go down well so it just died a death.” Cllr Raper said he suspected the real reason for the officers’ refusal was the cost of installing a crossing. He added that much of the cost could be recovered from savings made on not having to employ a lollipop patrol. Cllr Raper said: “A lollipop person only provides a benefit of crossing for three hours of the day. You are getting 21 extra hours of crossing time [with a pedestrian crossing].” Cllr Richardson said he would raise the issue with the county council’s cabinet member for highways, Cllr John Shuttleworth.](https://teesdalemercury.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/georgeR-120x86.jpg)
