From a single wheelie bin outside Goodison Park charity has grown to improve lives

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Ten years after their first collection, Fans Supporting Foodbanks help feed more than 2,500 people a weekA decade after collecting their first food donation in a wheelie bin outside Goodison Park, Fans Supporting Foodbanks has officially become a registered charity. Now, ten years on, Fans Supporting Foodbanks (FSF) has established a formal board of trustees and continues its vital mission to unite football fans in the fight against food poverty across the region.Newly elected Chair, Dave Kelly said: “When Robbie, Ian and I first stood outside the Winslow pub opposite Goodison Park with a wheelie bin to collect food, we never thought that ten years later we’d still be doing what we do.“Although we are now a registered charity, with a board of trustees and on a formal footing, we remain a grassroots organisation embedded in our football fan communities, trying to do our bit to help our neighbours.“You never know who might need our help but while they do, we will be there.”FSF continues to collect food and other household goods at home matches of Liverpool and Everton football clubs.Those collections form the basis of supplies for food pantries across the city at eight locations.

They are not only places to gain access to food, but also to provide warmth and friendship.Ian Byrne said: “When we set up FSF in 2015, it was both a practical sticking plaster to address the hunger we saw in our communities, and a recognition of the need for a political solution.“The catastrophe of hunger and poverty in our communities is the direct result of political choices made by successive governments. We like to create a friendly atmosphere where everyone is welcome, and everyone is equal.”While FSF now has a formal footing with a board of trustees to oversee its strategic direction and governance, its vision remains the same.Ian Byrne said: “The spectre of hunger, and the urgent need for a Right to Food, is very real here in Liverpool, where far too many people continue to experience it.“It is clear the time for sticking plasters is over.

We must legislate for a Right to Food and enforce food rights, ensuring that all governments are held accountable for the cost of food and for making sure no one goes hungry.”Dave Kelly added: “Our mission statement has always been ‘Close us down’. We live in the sixth richest economy in the world, and we shouldn’t have people reliant on foodbanks.“But, while we still do, we will be here to help people who need us most.”The organisation has shared its ethos among football fans across all leagues and there are now similar foodbank collections at matches across England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.Collections this weekend will take place at Anfield where Liverpool take on Manchester United and at the Etihad Stadium before Everton play Manchester City, uniting sets of football fans with huge traditional rivalries