Brighter Days Ahead

Brighter Days Ahead 

Spring Fundraising Campaign 

23rd March - 8th April 2026


Start Up Stirlings Spring campaign concentrates upon all of the positive things that are associated with this time of year, such as longer, warmer days and coming out of the cold Winter months. It’s also a time of renewal, friendship, and dealing with issues that have potentially been worrying people over the Winter, or longer. Their aim is to help to give the people that they support the confidence to ask for different types of help, not just food, to help to provide some brighter days ahead, building their confidence and resilience. The hashtags for the Easter campaign are:  #Spring2026 #brighterdays #Easter2026 #friendship

However, in order to meet demand for the organisation's Crisis Food Service, they continue to need a constant supply of food donations, regardless of the time of year. Here are the items that they need most this Spring. In reality, all canned and dried foods would be appreciated right now, due to the decreased number of food donations that they are receiving due to the cost of living crisis. 

  • Cereal bars

  • Tinned meat

  • Tinned pasta

  • UHT milk 

  • Cup-A-Soup


Financial donations are always appreciated, to purchase the staple items that are used the most, as well as help to keep their delivery vans on the road. Every donation makes a difference. Please scan the QR code to make a donation, or via the website at 

https://startupstirling.org.uk/donate

There are lots of different fundraising events and activities that are happening over the coming weeks, as part of Start Up Stirling’s Spring Campaign. 


Waitrose Stirling Food Bank Week - 22nd until the 28th March

The store will be supporting Start Up Stirling throughout the week, telling their customers about the charity, and encouraging them to make a food donation to support the Crisis Food Service over the upcoming Easter break.


Tesco Donation Days - 1st and 2nd April

There will be 2 Donation Days at the Tesco Superstore, Wallace Street, on the 1st and 2nd April. Go and say hello, and leave a food donation with their lovely volunteers. 


Thistle Centre Children’s Easter Bag Challenge - 3rd - 16th April

The Thistle Centre is hosting a Children's Easter Bag Challenge, to increase food donations over the Easter break.  Pick up a paper bag, use the Centres crafting table to make a cracking design, then add some canned or dried food items into the bag and leave it at the Donation Box provided. Alternatively, the decorated bag  can be brought back to the Centre filled. ‘Eggs On Legs’ will be running around during the first week of the holidays, to tell visitors to the Centre how to take part. The winning bag design will receive a lovely prize, courtesy of Stirling Thistles! More details will be provided via their social media channels. 


McDonalds Hampers

McDonalds restaurants at Drip Road, Murray Place and Springkerse are all raffling a hamper of Easter goodies, with all of the proceeds going to Start Up Stirling. If you happen to be having a burger over the Easter holidays, make sure to buy a ticket!

Food Donations


We are short of most of our food staples for our food parcels, but we especially need:

  • Tinned pasta

  • Coffee

  • Cereal bars

  • Tinned meat

  • TInned soup/ cup-a-soup


Please donate any of the items on our shopping list at one of our donation stations in supermarkets, shops, churches and community centres throughout the area. If you have a larger donation, please contact us in advance, so that we can welcome you at our warehouse. We also have printed shopping lists if you would like some to distribute. 

Tesco Superstore in Wallace Street Stirling is hosting a Food Donation Drive on Thursday 27th and Friday 28th November, from 10am until 4pm. Please come along and say hello!


Donation station hosting

Would you like to host a donation station at your workplace, school or club? We can supply you with a donation station and shopping lists for you to have your own food drive this Christmas. Just contact us, and we can arrange this for you. 


Reverse Advent Calendar

Our advent calendar is the best one to have for your pre-Christmas diet, as there is no chocolate involved! It’s a fun way with family, friends or work colleagues to donate a different item every day in December, with the full bag being donated at our warehouse, or community donation stations at the start of January. The food collected from the calendar will then be used in our food parcels this Winter. If you would like some printed copies, please let us know. 



Financial Support

We all know that food prices have risen, and that means that providing our Crisis Food Service has too. Over the past 2 years, the amount of food donations we have received has dropped by 23%, and we have had to find additional funding to bridge that gap. Here is the cost of a basic food parcel, with no additional fresh or frozen food. 

£22 provides food support for 3 days for one person

£34 helps a family of two with the basics

£43 supports a family of four


Each month on average, we have to raise £4,500 to purchase fresh food, fruit and vegetables, to supplement the canned and dried foods supplied within the food parcels.  A regular monthly donation helps us to budget for this, as well as our warehouse rent and running costs. 


Every donation that is made to us is precious and important. All of them help to make a big difference when people need it most. If you are a UK taxpayer you can Gift Aid your donation, this increases the value of your gift this Christmas by an additional 25%. 


If you would like more information about the Helping Hands Appeal, please contact the office on 01786 561027, use our contact form, or visit our warehouse Tuesday - Thursday, 9am until 3pm, or Friday, 9am until 1pm. 


Together, we can continue to provide hope, support and dignity for people living in our area. All the donations that we receive, whether food or financially, remain here in the Stirling Council area. Let’s give a dignified, practical, helping hand this Christmas, when our friends and neighbours need it most.

If you're unsure about how much to donate, here's a list of common items and services we need to fund. Select what you'd like to contribute.