HOW many of us are likely to receive a pair of socks this Christmas that we don’t particularly want or need?

This is the question posed by a charity volunteer in Darlington who is calling on the community to think of the homeless this Christmas and consider how valuable a warm pair of socks would be to a person sleeping on the streets.

The Darlington soup kitchen, which runs twice weekly at the car park off Brunswick Street, is serving a Christmas meal to its regular 30-plus users tonight (Wednesday, December 19) thanks to food donations from local businesses and community groups.

Volunteer Yvonne Wilson hopes the goodwill can continue into the New Year and said: “Everyday items like toothpaste and socks don’t mean much to us, but they can make such a big difference to somebody living on the streets.

“A lot of people that I speak to and come across don’t realise that the soup kitchen is there, they don’t even realise that we have homeless people in Darlington.”

Mrs Wilson wished to thank everybody who contributed food for the Christmas meal, including children from the Ravensdale Road Kids fun Klub baking biscuits, Country Harvest donating meat and the Hummersknott Allotment Association providing vegetables.

The soup kitchen runs every Wednesday and Thursday evening at 6pm and anybody who would like to donate to the homeless is welcome to drop off items, or contact John Robinson on 07850653376 to arrange collection.