Festive Fayre, Football and the FoodBank - A Perfect Match!

St James? Park Festive Fayre are thrilled to once again be supporting the Newcastle West End Foodbank, or ?Newcastle United Fans Foodbank? as it is more commonly known, as they head in to another Christmas. Newcastle West End Foodbank first opened back in 2013, providing invaluable support to those living in poverty within our region, and has since grown to be the largest Foodbank in the UK. The Foodbank provided food parcels for in excess of 40,000 people in Newcastle last year, often struggling to meet the demand for resources and often having to rely on generosity from elsewhere in the UK to provide essential food parcels for it?s users. The fortunes of the Foodbank, and those living in poverty within the North East changed however, when they joined forces with Newcastle United and their fans at the beginning of 2017. The response from the North East was stunning, with an average 1.33 tonnes of food, and £1089 in cash donations collected at each Newcastle United home fixture. Additionally, we?ve seen a number of fantastic fundraisers, such as the ?Rock the Foodback? event, the screening of ?I, Daniel Blake? at the Tyneside Irish Centre, and further collections at Ed Sheeran?s sold out concerts here at the stadium over the summer.

Sadly, December has been identified as the busiest month for Foodbank?s both up and down the country as they not only aim to do that little bit more to ensure no-one goes without at Christmas, but demand for support too increases by up to 50% as many families have to make the choice between eating, or heating their home as the colder nights set in.

In terms of football and the Foodbank, it?s a perfect match, with more than 1,000 people in Newcastle receiving a food parcel each week, which over a year equates to a staggering 52,000 users in need of support ? or a sell out matchday crowd at St James? Park. Now we?re keen to do our bit too! We?ll be setting up a donation station, not only for essential food parcels, but for other surprising non-food items in short supply ? it may seem hard to believe, but even basic household necessities such as toiletries, sanitary products and tin openers are relative luxuries to those living in poverty. Additionally, we?re setting up a tombola, with some fantastic prizes on offer, and there will be donation buckets throughout our event, and we encourage our guests to give generously ? even a donation of just £5 is enough to feed a family of 4 for a week!

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