CHURCH members in Bewdley are ensuring poorer families in Wyre Forest can still tuck into a roast dinner on Christmas day.

Volunteers at Riverside Elim Church have received a £5,000 grant from Wyre Forest District Council and will be contributing £3,000 from the church's fund to help them put together Christmas food hampers for vulnerable families in the area.

Church minister Steve Robinson said: "We usually throw a big Christmas party alongside our partners Sure Start and they refer families to us that are struggling.

"We won't be able to do that this year so we decided to send hampers to them instead to make sure they've got everything they need to have a great Christmas dinner.

"There are so many people in need at this time so hopefully this can go some way to making Christmas a bit easier for them."

The hampers will include more than £80 worth of food, including a roast chicken, all the trimmings such as pigs in blankets and fresh vegetables, and a week's worth of food for the festive period.

They will then be distributed by Sure Start and volunteers at Wyre Forest Food Bank.

Some will also be handed out by church members to families they know who are in financial difficulties, have been impacted by Covid-19, are suffering from bereavement or have serious health conditions.