Bosses at Cleveland Cleaning Ltd, based in Madeley, donated the food to Mark’s Pit Stop at the Community Health and Enterprise Centre (CHEC) cafe in High Street, Madeley.

Each of the 40 members of staff donated an item.

Marie McCreadie, director of Cleveland Cleaning, said: “I just wanted to do something a little different this year.

“Every year we give our staff a small present but this year I wanted them to give something back to the community in return.

“All our staff are very dedicated and work very hard throughout the year so of course they deserve the small gift – in fact they deserve a lot more – but we all need to remember that there are many people worse off than us.

“I have seen the work that CHEC in Madeley is doing, it is such a benefit to people who are really finding life hard at the moment so this is just a little something that we can do.”

Mark’s Pit Stop will redistribute the food to the poor and needy. The voluntary-run service was set up by Janet Groves nine years ago when her son Mark died after using drugs.

It is a drop-in centre for the lonely or in need and the homeless offering friendship, food and clothing.

Mrs Groves said: “We were extremely pleased to receive the donation of food.
“It was most unexpected and a great surprise. They are only round the corner so we were very pleased to hear from them.

“Last spring we didn’t have any tins of food, we were down so low, so we are very grateful for any donation.”