An unclaimed raffle prize has been donated to an Elgin food bank after the winner did not come forward.
The prize hamper was donated by Baxters to Moray Music Centre’s annual Christmas raffle but was left behind after the December draw.
After an appeal for the winner proved fruitless a decision has now been taken to donate the items to Moray Food Plus.
Gillian Pirie, volunteer development officer at the group, explained the contents would now be distributed to families and individuals who have been referred to the charity.
She said: “The contents of the hamper will be distributed to those in need, I’m sure they’ll enjoy them.
“Last April to December 2019 we had 1,928 referrals – a 47% increase in demand from the previous year.
“The generous folk in Moray are doing a great service by donating food, but if this rate of increase continues we will need more people to follow their example.”
Moray Food Plus also runs sessions for children during school holidays and between April 2018 and March 2019 redistributed nearly 17 tonnes of surplus food that would otherwise have been wasted.
Alexander Davidson, the acting head of Moray Council’s music instruction service, explained that donating the hamper to the charity felt like the best option.
He said: “Gillian and her team of volunteers do such a great job. I was glad to support them in this small way and hopefully help highlight the need for continued public donations.”