Derby County Community Trust's NCS participants have raised over £1,000 for partners Derby Food 4 Thought Alliance, with funds raised going towards the Reverse Advent Calendar festive campaign.

32 young people were involved in the social action fundraiser as part of the Autumn programme, raising the funds over a one-week period by taking part in a sponsored walk and a quiz and games night at Blenhiem House in Etwall.

Emma Pilgrim, NCS Manager, said “I’m so proud of all of the participants, to raise £1,310 in the timeframe they had is amazing. They’ve all worked really hard.

“The objective with the money is to collect food items detailed as part of the campaign to put together food packages for families in need this Christmas. The parcels will contain tinned and dried goods to make up a Christmas dinner.

“They’ve really understood the importance of the campaign and know that by doing this social action programme they’ll have helped hundreds of families to have a more enjoyable Christmas.”

Over the weekend, participants aged 16 and 17, turned the donations into the food parcels – filling trolleys at Morrisons Derby, who further supported the campaign by awarding a 10% discount.

So far, £325 of items have been purchased with the remainder of the funds still available to support the cause on the run up to Christmas.