Leek Town organise successful foodbank collection

The Blues' marketing and community manager, Anthony Bunn, organised the event to ensure that people within the local area of Leek would not go hungry this Christmas.

After issuing a rallying cry to fans and community members, the club garnered a fantastic response to their initiative, with a total of over 300kg of food and £147 worth of donations going to the Leek & District Foodbank which distributes provisions within the local area.

Following the event, Bunn said: "I have always felt a true community looks after those who need support the most, and whilst foodbanks shouldn’t exist in this day and age, we are so grateful that they do.

"The Leek & District Foodbank do some amazing work. They provide three days’ nutritionally balanced emergency food and support to local people who are referred to them in crisis, working to combat poverty and hunger across the UK. To support them really isn’t a hard decision to make, and we will continue to do that.

"It was an amazing day – box after box was filled with essential items, with donations of food and money coming from all ages.

"The first team players and management team started it all off on the Thursday night at training, and on the day of the match fans were coming in with bags of shopping. It was truly humbling, and one of the best days I’ve had in football.

"We packed a number of car boots way before the match had even started, and this is something that we will be repeating in the new year, as well as undertaking a number of other community support initiatives."

Lindsey Stockton, Leek & District Foodbank project manager added: "We really cannot thank the fans and staff of Leek Town Football Club enough, for a quite amazing donation to the Foodbank, gathered during their game on Saturday 16th December.

"A total of 335.7kg of food and £147 was donated by the fans who attended the match against Chasetown and also donations made in the build up to the game, which is just such unbelievable generosity.

"Donations like this are vital for us to be able to continue supporting those in need in Leek and the surrounding villages.

"We are so busy at the moment, with so many struggling to afford to keep up with rising prices.

"The food donations can obviously be given out directly and the cash donations are used to purchase food when our stocks run low, so both are equally important to us. Thank you to each and every one of you who donated so very much."