ALMOST 70 children from families in crisis will wake up to presents under the tree and food on the table on Christmas Day, thanks to a record number of donations to a North-East charity.

Hundreds of tins and packets of food, bottles of drink, crackers and Christmas goods have been donated for vulnerable people helped by Safe Families for Children (SFFC), a volunteer organisation established by Sunderland businessman and philanthropist Sir Peter Vardy.

These have been packed into hampers and were hand-delivered today (Monday, December 21) to families in need, in a scheme co-ordinated by Tickle The Tastebuds, a volunteer group set up in Middlesbrough to provide hot food and support to homeless and vulnerable people.

Group founder Wendy Brading said: “These parents often cannot afford the extra expense that Christmas brings. They may already be finding it hard to feed their family so they do not have the means to get anything extra at Christmas time.

“We've had mothers in tears when we deliver the hampers. Last year, one mother had told her children that not everyone has Christmas every year. When we delivered the hamper, the child said ‘Mummy we can have Christmas this year’.”

Crisis support group SFFC has worked with about 300 families in the last two years, in areas of Darlington, Middlesbrough, Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside and Sunderland.

Printing and marketing firm AlphaGraphics, in Middlesbrough donated to the cause.

Company account director Madeleine Costigan, who has helped with the scheme for two years, said: “Staff here and from other branches have been so generous and we have filled a whole room in the office with donations. It has been incredible.”