DRESSED in Santa hats and with jingle bells ringing out in the background, more than 20 community-spirited Cargill Meats Europe employees have been bringing a touch of Christmas cheer to pensioners.

For the third year running, the company has collected money to fund the creation of 200 festive hampers for charity Age Concern.

The employees gave up an evening to pack the hampers at the company’s Grandstand Road headquarters ready for delivery to village halls around Herefordshire, where the charity will be holding its Christmas parties.

To fund the hampers, a prize draw was held at each of the company’s sites across the county.

Employees were encouraged to buy tickets to be in with the chance of winning a day’s fully-paid holiday.

Almost 1,000 members of staff contributed, raising about £1,000 which was was then used to buy non-perishable items for the hampers including teabags, soup, beans, Christmas puddings, chocolate and tins of meat, fish, custard, fruit and jam.

Brian Burrows from Age Concern said: “This is the third year we have worked with Cargill Meats Europe on the hampers project.

“We couldn’t be more grateful to them for everything they do for the charity at Christmas.

“Not everyone in the county is fortunate enough to have easy access to basic food and drink items over the festive period. We think that this support from Cargill is truly invaluable.”