Haggerston School students have embraced the Christmas spirit, giving back to the community with their food bank collection on Friday 20 November.
The collection of non-perishable food at all three school gates on Friday morning was organised by a group of teachers, led by assistant headteacher Patrick McArdle: “There is a need within the local community. Individuals are suffering with the build-up to Christmas following COVID-19. Many people are out of jobs – there is a lot of deprivation in the area and we’re trying to give back, essentially.”
Mr McArdle says the food bank collection will impact the students as well as the community after it raised “quite a lot of food”.
“One of our values is to do with character. We are trying to instil a sense of community in the students. We try to make opportunities in various ways to make sure our students leave us as good citizens,” McArdle explained, adding that he hopes to make the food bank collection a regular event at the school.
All food collected by the school was donated to the Hackney Food Bank. According to the organisation, Hackney had the highest rate of citizens on “some sort of out-of-work benefit” of all London Boroughs in March 2020. The amount of working age people claiming out-of-work benefits at the time was 10.3 percent. This number is expected to have risen significantly as many are losing their jobs due to the pandemic.
