REDDITCH charities and organisations supporting families in need throughout will benefit from nearly £89,000 of Government funds.

The cash is part of a £596k pot which was given to Worcestershire County Council by DEFRA as part of its Food and Well-being Grants Scheme and which had been split across local authorities.

Redditch Foodbank will receive £45,000, Support Redditch Emergency Network (SREN) will receive £22,000 to deliver food parcels, hot meals and essentials for families, and single people.

Act on Energy will receive £11,806 and Redditch East Stronger Together (REST) will receive £10,000 to ensure that vulnerable children eligible for free school meals in east of Redditch receive vouchers over half term for food.

This will also go towards providing supplementary Christmas food hampers for vulnerable families in the East of the town and a voucher bank which schools can access for their vulnerable.

Redditch Borough Council Leader Matthew Dormer said: “As a Borough I think we pride ourselves on our community spirit and how we all come together to help each other when the going gets tough.

“We have been working with our partners, including the YMCA to help distribute Happiness Hampers and our Starting Well Team to deliver Recipe Boxes to families in need over this half-term holiday.

“These include food, recipes with ingredients – thanks to Tesco and Aldi for these - and activities to keep the youngsters to keep and enjoy.

“This latest cash boosts means the hard work of these agencies can continue because no-one in this Borough should go hungry or be without the bare necessities.”