A CARING Helensburgh teenager has helped hard-up local families in the run up to Christmas by organising a special food bank collection.

Morgan Baller, a receptionist and admin assistant at Helensburgh and Lomond Carers, was spurred into action when she heard that the town’s food bank was needing a supplies boost.

With her sister, Kirsten Murray, having organised a similar collection in 2014, Morgan was confident that a new collection would be a success.

She advertised the sale widely in the town, including on Facebook, and was delighted with the response when collection tables were put in Colquhoun Square on Saturday.

Morgan said: “People were very generous and over the course of the day we collected 1,380 items, most of which were food. Included in that total were 104 non food items, such as hygiene items, Advent calendars and pet food.

“With Christmas coming up I knew that many people would be on a tight budget and wanted to do something to help.”

Morgan, 18, who hopes to go to college to study midwifery, added: “Once again the people of Helensburgh and Lomond were very generous and I want to thank them for their support.”

Mary McGinley, chair of the Helensburgh and Lomond Foodbank, praised Morgan for her initiative in helping people in the area who are struggling to make ends meet.

She said: “We are delighted that off her own back she decided to help people who are worse off than herself at this time of year.

“She was able to put out an appeal for food items on Facebook which reached a whole new group of people for us. That made a big difference.”

Mary said the local community independent foodbank put out 35 bags of food every week from the Red Cross Halls in Helensburgh and from the Howie Pavilion in Rosneath. They also have a link to the medical centre in Arrochar.

She added: “This is all entirely voluntary and relies on the generosity of people in Helensburgh and Lomond.”

Kirsten’s help three years ago, she said, had been invaluable as food collected by her initiative coincided with the foodbank’s launch and the items donated provided the bank with its start-up stock.

Eileen McCrory, manager of Helensburgh and Lomond Carers, said: “Well done to Morgan for doing such a good job in organising this, especially at this time of year with Christmas approaching.”