Posted 11th Nov 2005

Generous pupils at St Stephen's Primary school in Broadgate, Preston kindly donated their Harvest Festival collection to the city's homeless at a special assembly attended by family and friends.

Children at the school enjoyed a traditional Harvest Festival assembly before hundreds of food items were handed over to a grateful Kirstie Joyce, a support worker at Foundations in Preston.

Foundations is owned and managed by New Progress Housing Association and is based on Oxford Street in the Avenham area of Preston. It is a purposely-designed housing scheme for people facing homelessness. The food will enable staff at the facility to stock cupboards for new tenants who often arrive with little or no money or belongings.

After the presentation, Kirstie talked to the children about the role of Foundations in helping local people affected by homelessness get back on their feet.

Said Mr Sharkey, Headmaster at St Stephens:

'The children did extraordinarily well this year in collecting for this year's festival and its extremely satisfying to see all their hard work going to such good use in the local community.

'By helping Foundations, the children have been able to identify with local people who may not be as fortunate as themselves.'

Other local schools, Deepdale Junior School, St. Gregory's Roman Catholic Primary School , Deepdale and St Andrew's CE Church, Ashton have also donated Harvest Festival collections to the facility.

Said Kirstie Joyce, support worker at Foundations:

'We are extremely grateful to St Stephen's and the other schools for the generous donation of their Harvest Festival collection. The food collected will be invaluable in helping us to help local people facing homelessness and financial hardship.

'A huge thank-you to all the staff, pupils and their parents at the schools for their hardwork and generosity.'