Sixth Form students at St Columba’s College organised the school’s annual Lenten Food Bank Appeal before the coronavirus lockdown.

Herts Advertiser: St Columba's College students have been collecting for local food banks.St Columba's College students have been collecting for local food banks. (Image: Archant)

The annual appeal takes place during the Lent period with the collection split between two local food banks, the Borehamwood Foodbank and the St Albans and District Foodbank.

St Columba’s collected 264 kilograms of food as well as 420 razors and toothbrushes. Last year, the school collected nearly one and a half tonnes of food for local food banks.

Due to the ongoing pandemic and the school closing early, the collection has understandably been lower than previous years.

The Lenten Food Bank Appeal was a whole school effort, with students from the Prep School, Senior School and Sixth Form all helping to weigh, count and label the generous donations each morning.

Herts Advertiser: St Columba's College students have been collecting for local food banks.St Columba's College students have been collecting for local food banks. (Image: Archant)

Assistant headteacher Joseph Tatham said: “We are delighted with the efforts of our school community under these challenging circumstances.

“Our Sixth Form team did a brilliant job of promoting and coordinating the food bank collection. Many parents also donated money to the cause due to the lack of items at their local supermarkets. A huge thank you must go to our students and parents for supporting this important appeal.”

Many parents had requested a donation page to be set up, after they could not find items at local supermarkets. The school created a donation page for the food bank appeal which is live until May, and has so far raised over £1,700.

Harry Preston-Jones, a Sixth Form student who helped to organise the food bank collection, said: “In these uncertain times, it was amazing to see the generosity of our school community. Now more than ever, food banks need our support, and I really hope that this collection has made a difference to our local community.”