MENTION food banks today and you’ll find that opinion is sharply divided into two camps.

There are those who firmly believe it’s just another method of propping up the shirkers and irresponsible in society.

And there are those who feel food banks help the genuinely needy at a time when cash is short for many people.

I fall into the latter category. It’s more than likely there may be some people playing the system who don’t really need the free food on offer and may well have plenty of cash to spend through other state means.

Frankly, whether that’s true or not, I don’t care. The fact is that food banks give practical help to many individuals and families – that means helping children, and that’s good enough for me.

The whole subject is bound to be polarised once more with the news that a new food bank is being set up by Farnworth and Kearsley Food Bank using cash obtained from criminals.

The organisation was one of 25 community groups invited to bid for the £50,000 collected from drug dealers, burglars and organised crime.

That news prompted a definite feeling of warmth, along with satisfaction at the irony of life, because there’s nothing wrong with passing on a bit of kindness – especially when it unwittingly originates with the real dregs of society.

That glow lasted when I heard Heaton-based psychotherapist Anne-Marie Alger urging local people to support National Random Acts of Kindness Week.

She believes that this is the ideal time to do something nice for someone else or for the local community.

That might jut be giving a stranger a helping hand, buying someone a coffee or collecting unsightly litter in the community.

The whole movement about random acts of kindness, which originated in America, centres on the best in people rather than the worst.

And it’s such a relief to do that when the media is full of the worst of human nature resulting in horrible acts which involve innocent victims.

Anne-Marie points out not only do we gain back a feeling of happiness in helping other people but this may even help us to live longer.

“Focusing on others can reduce stress and anxiety, and help us to reduce negative emotions,” she explains.

In other words, you’re giving plenty back by helping other people in whatever way you choose, and it can actually make you feel better.