THE Glasgow Times is calling on our kind-hearted readers to help support families who are struggling to put food on the table this Christmas.

Recyclable paper bags have been placed inside every copy of today’s newspaper, as part of our annual Bank on Us campaign.

These bags can be filled with non-perishable food items and toiletries and handed into your nearest participating food bank – a full list of which can be found HERE.

Donations can also be handed into our print centre at Glasgow East Investment Park.

Our toy bank campaign last year brought in around £15,000 in donations which delivered more than 100,000 brand-new gifts to the city’s most vulnerable children.

This year, we hope to spread festive cheer to ensure thousands of families struggling during the current cost-of-living crisis don’t have to worry about not being able to afford food over the festive period.

The campaign has been kindly sponsored by StepChange, Arnold Clark, and Storage Vault.

Latest figures revealed that almost 200,000 food bank parcels were provided to people across Scotland in just one year by one charity. The Trussell Trust’s network of banks handed out a total of 197,000 food packages across the country during the 12 months before March 2022.

Stacey Mullen, assistant editor of the Glasgow Times, said: “Today marks the release of our paper Bank on Us donation bags and we’re hopeful all of our readers will get involved.

“It’s been another difficult year and we want to do all we can to help struggling families have a merry Christmas.” All donations received through the campaign will be handed out to those who will be relying on vital food banks across Glasgow and its surrounding areas this Christmas.

Over the last few days, we have been speaking with bosses in charge of city food banks, who have been seeing a surge in users over the past year.

Karen Neary, project officer at Crookston Community Group, explained how the independent food bank has even noticed a change in their donations. She said: “A lot of people are affected by the cost-of-living crisis to the point where people who’d usually spend a wee £5 on us now can’t afford to do that.

“We’ve got more people coming to us that have never come to us before and people who never thought they would have to.”

Meanwhile, those who are not able to participate in the food drive can choose to donate money towards our toy drive instead.

All proceeds raised through our fundraising page will be used to purchase toys, which will be distributed to charities around the city.

They will then be handed out to parents who are struggling to buy presents for their children and put under Christmas trees across the city for kids to wake up to on Christmas morning.

The Glasgow Times knows people make this city and we’re adamant that with the help of our readers and sponsors we can help ensure everyone will have a merry Christmas.

To donate towards our toy bank, please click HERE.