Food Train's BOXtober campaign has doubled its target from last year

A sponsorship drive to support a charity helping older people live better lives at home has exceeded all expectations.

Food Train has doubled the total it achieved in 2019 through its BOXtober campaign, with hundreds of people getting behind it, raising thousands of pounds.

Throughout October the charity encouraged people to pledge just £10 to sponsor one of the boxes in which its volunteers carry groceries to those who would otherwise struggle with their shopping and potentially go without the essentials - and social contact - needed for a healthy life.

Across the country, 616 boxes have been sponsored, generating £6,160 for the charity at a time when demand for its services remain remarkably high in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Emma Black, Food Train’s national fundraising and marketing manager, said: “We’re delighted with the success of our BOXtober campaign. To double the amount we raised in 2019 is fantastic. We’re so grateful to everyone who has got behind it.

“Asking someone to sponsor a box may not seem too conventional, but the impact that it can have is remarkable.

“These boxes carry shopping supplies which mean the older people who are receiving them can eat well and live well in their own homes.

“And, quite simply, we have never needed more of them because of the massive demand that we are responding to. It’s clear from the great reaction we’ve had that people recognise that and appreciate the work that our tremendous volunteers and staff do.”

Each sponsored box is labelled to acknowledge the support for a year.

Across Scotland, Food Train is currently delivering shopping supplies to 3,384 customers through it’s acclaimed home shopping service, as well as the Connects project launched earlier this year which matches customers and shoppers on a one-to-one basis. That is compared to 2,342 at this time last year. Demand at the peak of the pandemic’s lockdown was 70% higher than 2019 as older people shielded in their homes.

The sponsored boxes will be on the road across the nine regions in which it operates - Dumfries and Galloway, Dundee, Glasgow, East Renfrewshire, Renfrewshire, Stirling, Clackmannanshire, the Scottish Borders and West Lothian.