Whitby Fire Station foodbank drop-off point 'going well'
A recently created drop-off point for any donations of food in Whitby at the Fire Station has been going well since the end of January.
A recently created drop-off point for any donations of food in Whitby has been going well.
The town's foodbank has been teaming up with the Fire Station on St Hilda's Terrace since the end of January this year.
Firefighters have been helping out by delivering food parcels to those in need even through the use of a fire engine.
Paul Burnett, Crew Manager at Whitby Fire Station, said:
"We've had a steady stream of people coming up to the fire station now and it's gone really well. There are a few distribution points around Whitby so we're the newest, but I think because there's generally firefighters here between 8am and 6pm, it's quite a versatile place and quite a flexible place to bring your donations.
"We'll use the fire engine but we've also got our station van, so if there's enough crew on that particular day, we'll drop somebody off and they can go and distribute the food parcels on either a Monday or a Friday. We also have a 4x4 here and in the recent heavy snow that we had that actually came into its own when the foodbank couldn't actually deliver.
"The neighbours are often a little bit intrigued but generally it's very well and warmly welcomed. It gives us the opportunity to not only give the food parcel but also to give the community fire safety message, because we do what we call a 'safe and well visit' generally when we go around fitting smoke alarms."