BOLTON Wanderers star Stuart Holden has taken time out to donate food and clothing to Bolton’s most vulnerable.

The midfielder launched Holden’s Gifts of Hope last Saturday and he was inundated with donations, including from team-mates.

Christmas shoppers flocked to the Middlebrook in Horwich to help Stuart achieve his goal of helping local charities Bolton Young People’s Housing Scheme, Urban Outreach and Farnworth and Kearsley Food Bank.

And now the USA international, along with his brother Euan and girlfriend, Karalyn, visited Urban Outreach in Tonge Moor.

They were joined by volunteers and BWCT staff as they helped to put together Christmas hampers to be distributed to families in need across Bolton.

Their time was then spent sorting through the mounds of bags of food that were donated from Saturday’s collection points. This will be used to help replenish food bank stocks in the local area.

Stuart said: “It’s been great to get really hands-on with this and help to build the Christmas hampers and sort through the masses of food collected on Saturday.

It makes it all worthwhile when you know that this food will be distributed to those who are in need.

“I am looking forward to spending Christmas with my family and friends but I think it is important to remember those who are not in such a fortuitous position and do what I can to help make things a little easier for those who might be struggling at this time of year.”

Dave Bagley from Urban Outreach added: “The situation we face at the moment is that people are being affected by poverty on a much broader scale than we ever imagined and this is an opportunity for us to give people something very basic, like food, without saying it is charity.

“To have Stuart’s support and his hands on involvement is absolutely brilliant.

From the first time I met him on Saturday I was profoundly blown away – he just wanted to get involved and help to make a difference and to come down, in his spare time, is so impressive.”

The food will be given to families in need across Bolton and the clothes will be given out to people when needed and to the homeless.