THE fundraising work of a Thurrock teenager has been shared with the community by his proud parents and his teachers.

Jack Dulieu is a 13-year-old who attends the Hathaway Academy in Grays and has been inspired to go the extra yard for the Foodbank and Salvation Army as they bid to help the area's homeless and disadvantaged families.

Mum and dad Jenny and Leigh, of Lodge Lane, Grays, have expressed their pride in their son's efforts, with Jenny taking up the story: "I received an email from Jack's tutor on Friday telling me how hard he's been trying in his tutor class with raising awareness for the food bank and Salvation Army appeal.

"He's been encouraging his friends to bring in donations and even took in some of his own pocket money to donate which we had no idea about.

"On Saturday (28 November) he decided he wanted to do more to help. He asked me to post on the local Facebook residents' pages about what he wanted to do. That morning I had lots of messages about people wanting to donate. He walked to the first house to pick up the packages but people were so generous he struggled to carry it so we drove to the rest of the houses.

"A kind lady Tarnya Bennett who is the community champion for Morrisons in Grays saw my post and kindly offered Jack a £30 gift card to come and spend in store for food. Another lady gave him a £20 donation so off he went to Morrisons and spent the money for food for the Thurrock Foodbank.

"He spent all Saturday collecting donations and has more to collect today. As well as all of the food he also had another £50 in donations to donate for the Salvation Army appeal.

"We know teenage boys normally get a bad rap so felt this was something to celebrate. We are so proud of him and pleased that he is thinking of others in this difficult time."

If anyone would like to support Jack further, get in touch with mum Jenny by email at [email protected] or via Facebook.