THOUSANDS of pounds of charity cash was spent last year providing needy townsfolk with cookers.

The shock statistics are revealed in the annual report of Bolton's Guild of Help, which offers charity aid to hundreds of the most needy people in the town.

Last year the Guild spent more than £15,500 from their main Louisa Alice Kay fund to provide cookers for some of the most hard-up people who turned to them for help.

The old established fund - which provides the money for the Guild's largest single series of grants - led to a total of £46,211 in grants for all kinds of basic essentials.

The hand-outs for cookers accounted for nearly one-third of that total. The annual report states: "As in previous years the provision of cookers was the largest category of help provided, accounting for £15,530 approximately a third of the total distribution."

But while cooker hand-outs increased, grants for fuel arrears, furniture, carpets, clothing, food, TV licences and decorating materials fell slightly.

The figures were revealed as the Guild also announced a drop in income of six per cent, including donations down £1,006 on the previous year. The fall in income, however, was offset by a drop in expenses.

The report was tabled as members of the Guild, based in Silverwell Street, Bolton, met this week for their 92nd annual meeting in the Parish Church Hall, Churchgate.

Tribute was paid to the Guild's former secretary, Patrick Shorten, who died suddenly last September, 18 months after his retirement. Mr Shorten, who lived in Doffcocker, had worked for the Guild for 27 years.

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