Clubs Help Fight Hunger
With the need for food bank support constantly escalating, rugby clubs are helping out.
Many people are going hungry, including children who miss free school meals in the holidays, and rugby clubs nationwide have been getting involved with their local food banks.
The Trussell Trust supports more than 1,200 food banks across the UK, and together they provide emergency food and support to people locked in poverty.
Their most recent data shows April to September 2019 as the busiest half-year period for food banks in their network since the charity opened. There were 823,145 three-day emergency food parcels went for those in crisis; more than a third (301,653) going to children.
The Trussell Trust State of Hunger in-depth study revealed that the average weekly income of households at food banks is only £50 after paying rent; one in five have no money coming in at all in the month before being referred for emergency food; 94% are destitute
Around 18 months ago, Hinckley RFC formed a partnership with the Hinckley Area Food Bank, installing a collection point in the clubhouse to provide regular, much needed donations. The Hinckley Food Bank opened in 2012 as the first Trussell Trust network Food Bank in Leicestershire.
Club Chairman John Tilley said: “Figures showed a growing need for the help that the Food Bank provides in our area. We are a real community club and were pleased to help. The rugby community are a generous lot by nature and more than happy to lend a helping hand.”
Horden and Peterlee, the epitome of a community club, have for some time worked closely with their local food bank on a regular basis, as well as making up Christmas parcels for people who really need them over the festive period.
Harwich & Dovercourt have a foodbank donation point set up at the front of the clubhouse and at lunches or events their members and guests donate.
City centre club, West End RFC, has entered a new partnership with Newcastle West End Foodbank. Supported by the Trussell Trust, the foodbank is one of the busiest in the country and provides parcels that feed 30,000 people annually.
The partnership includes a clubhouse donation point and the foodbank logo on all club wear.
Club Chairman, Richard Nicholson said "This is our way of raising awareness of an important organisation in our community. The work that the volunteers at the foodbank do is incredible and helps so many people facing crisis".
Once one local club gets involved it often prompts others to follow suit. When Ponteland RFC’s third team was playing at West End, they had a large collection and presented it after the game.
“This got us thinking,” says Ponteland’s John Chappell. “Now Christine Mew, our Safeguarding Officer, who runs a snack shack at the club each weekend collects donations and we use a portion of our profit to provide contributions to foodbanks. Christine also uses this contribution to purchase female sanitary products which tend not to get donated at public foodbanks.”
Seaham RUFC make a donation to their local food bank once a month thanks to donations from players on match days. They stepped it up a gear and dug into their pockets for the festive season, with manager John Mccallum and Kurt Miller taking all of the donations down to help local families.
The players, committee members, volunteers and supporters have been making collections every week to support their local Food Bank. Their fines officer and senior player, Glen Hardie, identifies an item of food, clothing or hygiene product which players bring in before each game, or they pay £1 to help. The response has been so positive that the collections have been sizeable, several members making deliveries.
Says Club Secretary Neil Roseberry: “As a club that likes to consider itself a rather important part of the local community, we are happy to fulfil our moral duties to support those who need help in these hard and very uncertain times.”
Redditch RFC recently collected over 500 tins of food and other items like toothpaste, thanks to juniors taking a can along to sessions. These were given to Redditch food banks and the St Vincent de Paul charity. The club also runs school holiday camps for children with a free hot meal at lunchtime. Their Active Kitchen, supported by the local council and West Mercia police force, helps children who miss term-time free school meals, while serving any children attending .
Hackney RFC’s community team run a healthy eating scheme for school holiday activities. With healthy and sustainable food choices, children are encouraged to share mealtimes and make connections by preparing and sharing food in a relaxed environment. Seasonal fruit and vegetables are freely available during break times, with a hot food option if the activity is over four hours.
The club works with FareShare, which diverts surplus food from companies to almost 11,000 frontline charities and community groups through their Surplus With Purpose fund.
Trussell Trust food banks account for some two thirds of those in the UK, each of them an independent charity in their own right. If a club is interested in donating food they can visit trusselltrust.org to find their local food bank.
https://www.trusselltrust.org/get-help/find-a-foodbank/
If they don’t discover one nearby, the Trust may be able to connect them with a different provider’s food bank.
If someone is interested in starting a food bank where none are available, a first step is to check this website page and go from there
https://www.trusselltrust.org/get-involved/start-a-food-bank/
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