Generous pub goers have dug deep to raise thousands of pounds for a Bury charity through donations.

Bury-based Porch Boxes has been given £22,000 from Joseph Holt pubs across the region, including the Goat's Gate and the Eagle and Child, both in Whitefield.

Julia Rowlands, chair of  Porch Boxes, said the donation from the brewery would equate to 12 months of food parcels given out across the Bury borough.

The charity provides crisis packs of food and toiletries to agencies to distribute to people in need.

She said: “This donation is magnificent since we are so dependent of what we are given – we need to fill our shelves.

“We`re grateful for any donations we receive but we often get carbohydrate staples such as beans, pasta and rice.

“We also need foods that cook quickly, in a pan and don`t use a lot of electricity – such as tinned meatballs or hot dogs.

"This donation will allow us to buy more of these ambient foods and give us security for the foreseeable future to get what our clients need.”

The charity provides crisis packs of food and toiletries to local agencies to distribute to local people in urgent need.

Overall, donations from 127 Joseph Holt pubs raised £130,000 which has been distributed to six charities that are devoted to help people struggling to pay their food bills.

This comes as each charity has reported a massive growth in the number of people relying on food banks, coinciding with the cost of living crisis.

Richard Kershaw, chief executive and great great grandson of brewery founder Joseph Holt, said: “As we all know, 2020 and 2021 were especially tough years for many people.

“For the first time in our history, we decided to fundraise for six charities located in our heartlands across the North West.

“We had fantastic support from all our customers, employees and licensees, helping us fulfil our strong desire across the company to put something back into the local community."

The presentation to the charity was made during a special ceremony at The Woodthorpe pub in Prestwich.

If you have a story and something you would like to highlight in the community, please email me at Harriet.Heywood@newsquest.co.uk or DM me on Twitter @Heywoodharriet_