Crystal Palace F.C Volunteer at Norwood and Brixton Foodbank

Mamadou Sakho and Christian Benteke visited the Brixton & Norwood Food Bank on Tuesday 17th December 2019, to deliver donations from club staff and players ahead of the festive season. The food bank is expecting to distribute up to 700 Christmas parcels to individuals and families in crisis this holiday.

The food bank is just four miles from Selhurst Park, and has recently expanded to act as a ‘hub’ for several food banks south of the river Thames. In this food bank alone, volunteers have fed nearly 7,000 people since April – providing three days of nutritionally-balanced emergency food, and also offering support for the crises that their visitors are facing.

The average weekly income of households needing emergency support is just £50 after paying rent, with one in five having no money coming in at all in the month before being referred for emergency food. According to the Trussell Trust, the main reasons for people needing emergency supplies are low benefit income, and delays or changes to benefits being paid.

This food bank, one of 1,200 in the Trussell Trust network, is not government nor council funded, and relies wholly on donations from the public.