Shropshire based New Chapters Fostercare (NCF) has raised £1000 for Telford Crisis Support (TCS).

The first in a series of fundraising events this year, the sponsored walk up The Wrekin took place on Sunday 19 April.

Established in 2013 and originally centred around a core foodbank service, TCS is an independent, volunteer-led, holistic support organisation, which secured charitable  status in 2015. It supports local communities across the borough of Telford & Wrekin and the surrounding Shropshire border area. To tackle the growing issue of poverty it has needed to evolve and based on its experiences of operating a foodbank, feedback from users and collaborative working, an expanded TCS now offers a babybank, providing essentials such as moses baskets, baths and clothing for children up to five years old, a school uniform project and energy advice.

In 2025 TCS helped 17,650 people across all its projects, including the provision of food parcels for 15,793 adults and children, which equated to a total of 189,516 meals. It also received 285 requests to its baby bank, which is an increase of 11 per cent from 2024.

Erin Aston, senior operations manager at TCS said: “The £1000 will go towards purchasing our main priorities of food and toiletries. We have the support of the local community champions at Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s, the latter being one of the few supermarkets allowing charities to claim loyalty points, which in this case is the Nectar scheme.  Although some food is donated, it is never enough to keep up with demand and donations like this take the pressure off. We are extremely grateful to NCF and the people who raised the money.”

Martin George, director at NCF, said: “TCS is exactly the kind of community project we want to support, particularly as food prices continue to rise as part of the cost of living continues to affect low income households. We also have some ideas for more fundraising events, including a sponsored walk/run around Lake Vyrnwy.”

For more information about NCF visit: www.newchaptersfostercare.co.uk.

Picture (left to right): presenting the cheque for £1000 Martin George, NCF and Erin Aston, TCS.