Families have been 'blown away' by a big-hearted gift which will ensure they can tuck into goodies and have presents this Christmas.

It comes after 200 hampers were distributed to families whose children are in receipt of free school meals and who attend school in the Dorchester area. The hampers are filled with food, toys and gifts.

Demand has soared since last year – but organisers of the initiative said the community rallied round to enable enough hampers to be filled and sent out, showing 'Dorchester at its best'.

It's all thanks to Dorchester Family Support network (DFS) along with volunteers from many of the churches in the town. The hampers were funded by donations of money from the community including churches, Rotary, Charminster WI and others. Contributions of food were also received from the community and the Food Bank.

Numbers have doubled since last Christmas which caused some issues with sourcing food. Fortunately the local Waitrose store came to the rescue and also provided money from the store's 'Give A Little Love' Christmas campaign. Tesco also helped with a food donation and a pledge of money from its 'Bags of Help' campaign.

Hampers were distributed from The Thomas Hardye School and students and staff also donated food towards the hampers.

DFS said it was very grateful to headteacher Mike Foley for the use of the school canteen and to the staff who helped coordinate food collection and who helped on the day.

DFS spokesman Karen Weir said: "This year we worked in partnership with the Mayor of Dorchester, Richard Biggs to provide a small cash gift to enable the children to buy a Christmas present. The mayor joined us along with the town clerk to distribute this on Saturday.

"We also received many donations of toys and gifts from various donors which we were able to give to all the families who collected a hamper."

She added: "We are only able to provide this service through the generosity of local people in both donations of money and food but also with their time and it was heartwarming to see so many different community organisations working together to help local families through this difficult time. We are very thankful for all the support received. It truly is Dorchester at its best.

The families were thrilled with the Christmas goodies in their hamper and said they were overwhelmed with the generous gifts from the mayor and other donors.

One mum said “I'm absolutely blown away by the generosity given this Christmas. You have no idea how much it has helped. I am more than grateful. Thank you very much.”