COFFEE may not feature on many people’s Christmas lists but one Swindon charity is appealing for an unusual donation in the run-up to the festive period.

The Swindon Foodbank is asking the public to donate one thousand jars of 100g coffee, to enable them to help more vulnerable people this festive season.

With supplies of the hot drink running low, the foodbank faces being unable to supply top quality food boxes to income deprived people in the town.

Now project manager Andrew Hill is asking for support from members of the public to ensure coffee supplies don’t grind to a halt over the holiday period.

“Coffee can be expensive and many people opt for tea instead. But if they can donate one small jar it will help us out a great deal,” Andrew said.

The foodbank has a stock list of items such as pasta, tinned meat, fruit juice, potatoes, and milk which go into healthy and nutritionally balanced boxes designed to feed people for a few days.

Andrew said while people donate carbohydrates such as pasta and rice in bulk, coffee supplies have dwindled.

“Coffee donations have slowed down recently, we understand that is pricey but it helps us provide the best box we can," he said.

Andrew said the staple items provided in each box gave people reassurance.

“It’s a basic human necessity, it makes people feel that they have a routine. That is why we put them in those boxes, it gives people that sense of normality," he said.

“Hot drinks are very comforting and every item is as important as anything else. It makes people feel normal again to have these items in stock

“If we run out of coffee it means the quality of our boxes will decrease - that’s not what we want. We want to provide the best box we can to help people."

The charity helps people in need to put food on the table and Andrew praised donors who have kept the warehouse full to the rafters.

“The generosity of the people of Swindon is amazing, it’s down to them our shelves are as full as they are and to have that consistent support and donations is amazing," he said.

Swindon Foodbank is also appealing for donations of tinned fruit, fruit juice and small bags of sugar. They have also created special holiday boxes filled with Christmas goodies such as advent calendars, biscuits and chocolates.

Cheques should be sent to: Norma Bates, Swindon Foodbank C/O Restore, St John’s Church Hall, Whitbourne Avenue, Swindon, SN3 2LG.

For information on how to donate visit swindonfoodbank.co.uk