Food parcels and toiletries, given as a wedding gift to a newlywed couple near Bradford, have been donated to Sandale Hub Food Bank.
Helen (pictured) and David Bland received a wedding blessing towards the end of 2019 at St Michael’s and All Angels Church in Shelf. Whilst organising the day, the couple quickly decided that they didn’t need any of the usual wedding presents and were delighted to ask people to bring contributions for the food bank instead.
Initially Helen and David had planned their wedding for December 2019 but had to bring the legal marriage ceremony forward to accommodate the father of the bride whose health had sadly deteriorated. With the legal ceremony out of the way, the couple still carried on with their arrangements for the wedding blessing with friends and family on 27th December.
4 weeks before the ceremony, Helen, who is a member of St Michael’s and St Aidan’s Church, brought food parcels and toiletries for the Food Bank on Buttershaw Estate, which the church regularly supports. The contributions brought on the day of the wedding were also estimated to include 6 weeks’ worth of shopping for a family of four, a hoard so large that a van was needed to collect it all.
Revd Andy Greiff, vicar of Shelf with Buttershaw, said, “What a privilege it has been to walk with Helen and David through joy and sorrow and to see the outworking of their generosity to needy people in the local area.”