Festive Foodbank Collection

Festive Foodbank Collection

Foodbank in action for all home matchdays over the festive period.

Leeds United Supporters’ Trust and The Square Ball have joined forces in the run up to Christmas to provide some additional support to the Leeds Fans Foodbank that is hosted at Elland Road for every home matchday.

The Leeds Fans Foodbank initiative supports both Leeds North West and Leeds South East foodbanks that provide emergency food supplies to people in crisis. At this time of year more food and funds are needed as the colder weather heaps on an additional pressure with families increasingly unable to cover the basic costs of living such as; heating bills, food, warm clothing and other essentials, meaning they’re often having to choose between heating or eating.

Ahead of kick off this Saturday (30th November), as Leeds United take on Middlesbrough in the Sky Bet Championship, the Leeds Fans Foodbank will start their festive food drive by asking fans to donate essential items needed in the run up to the Christmas. This includes: fruit juice, long life milk, tins of fish/tomatoes/potatoes and vegetables, mash/smash, custard, pasta sauce, coffee and fans can also make donations of festive products such as mince pies, advent calendars and Christmas cake.

The food collection point is located just outside the East Stand at Elland Road, next to Bremner Square and near the Leeds United retail outlet. This Saturday the foodbank will be open from 1pm. 

The Trust and The Square Ball are also arranging a fun and festive walk to coincide with the Huddersfield versus Leeds United fixture on Saturday 7th December – setting off from Elland Road at around 6am and trekking across to The John Smith’s Stadium.

The walk is roughly 13 miles and will take approximately five hours to complete, with breaks in between. The walk also has the support of the Huddersfield Town Supporters’ Trust who will be joining in to raise funds for their own local foodbank collection.

Any volunteers taking part in the walk are being asked to raise £100 in sponsorship – if this is something you would like to be a part of then please email walk@leedsunitedtrust.com for further information.  

Trish Ryder, Leeds North and West Foodbank, commented: “We are really pleased to get the help and support of Leeds United fans again this Christmas, last year was a great success and with December being our busiest month all the donations you provide could really make the difference to some people having to choose between heating and eating.”

Leeds United Supporters’ Trust, added: “We’re pleased to once again launch the festive food drive with Leeds Fans Foodbank to generate extra support at this time of year, with our generous supporters have already donated over 1,500 meals this season.

In the run up to Christmas the foodbanks expect to see an increase in emergency food parcels so we want to do more and we are pleased to be able to get as many fans as possible involved by doing a charity walk to try and raise more awareness and collect more funds.

“If every Leeds United fan attending the game brought at least one food item that would see the foodbanks have enough product for the entire festive period.”

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