Thornton community comes together to help people in need

The drive, which saw the residents of Lochty Meadows in the town amass the huge haul, was organised by Shirley Denton after wanting to help others this Christmas.

Shirley, a Co-op member pioneer coordinator, said: “I got the idea from the Co-op’s postcode pantry initiative and decided to see if my neighbours in Lochty Meadows would help.

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"Initially I put a post on our community page on Facebook and the response was positive, so I put a carrier bag through everyone's door and asked if they could donate one item like a tin, or something out of their cupboard.

"I was overwhelmed with the amount that people donated, they had filled the bags full with food, some people even donated toiletries and clothes, we even had a donation of three bicycles – you name it I had it, my garage was full!"

Shirley and her neighbours had collected so many donations that Thornton Foodbank was unable to accept it all.

"I ended up taking 45 bags of food to Glenrothes Foodbank as our local one couldn’t take anymore,” She added. "There are a lot of people struggling even before the pandemic hit, and now there are even more as more people are being made redundant.

“What the community has achieved is absolutely fantastic. It has been a lovely thing to do for others, and has really lifted everyone's spirits to be taking part in something that will help others.”

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