In December 2019, following consultation with Newham Council, LS185 and the LLDC, we were given permission to collect donations for the Newham Foodbank based in Beckton. They supply food parcels through 7 centres throughout Newham. The demand on foodbanks had grown progressively and we were hopeful that with over 1 million visitors attending games at the London Stadium over a season, that we could make a difference to our local community. Following the successful trial at the Leicester City game, we were given permission to continue collecting at every home game, subject to any ‘high risk’ games. By the end of February we were collecting approx. £700 per game in food value and cash.
Pearly Royalty visits the London Stadium!
Irons Supporting welcomed three generations of London Pearlies to collect with them before the recent Everton game.
John Ratomski from the group explained, ‘we contacted the Pearlies and asked if they could come and collect with us before the game against Everton. We were pleased to actually welcome three generations to the game. We had the Pearly Kings of Highgate and Mile End, father and son, and the 9-year old grandson Pearly Prince of Highgate who by coincidence would be attending his first football match later, as a guest of the Club.
Terry Scott Pearly King of Highgate added ‘we had a great day and lots of money raised made the day complete. Hope to see you all again soon.’
The total amount collected on the day will allow for food supplies to local foodbanks up to a value of £5,000, through the food redistribution charity HIS Church.
Easter chocolates campaign
Volunteers from Irons Supporting Foodbanks delivered over 6,000 Easter chocolates to local foodbanks and communities, thanks in part to a recent successful 17 mile charity walk from Wembley Stadium to Barking Road undertaken by John Ratomski, London Stadium DJ Russ Budden and David Sullivan Junior which has raised several thousands of pounds for the Easter campaign.
Please support us if you can by donating to our JustGiving page.
The Christmas 2021 Christmas Appeal
With donations received from the West Ham fan family, we were able to distribute over 7,100 Christmas treats through Newham Foodbank to local children whose families need to use foodbanks. We were also able to donate several hundred treats to the Ambition Aspire Achieve Kevin Jenkins OBE Recorder Christmas Toy Appeal, and to the Magpie Project refuge in Manor Park.
Many thanks to the many fans and friends who helped us to reach this number. West Ham United Joint-Chairman David Sullivan also donated funds which allowed Newham Foodbank to buy £4,000-worth of specific foods they need.
More help needed
Our partners at One Newham advise that there are many families struggling with a lack of online access.
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Colin Milne Remembered
Friends of the late Colin Milne, a life-long West Ham United fan have contributed to a Trust Fund created in his name to benefit local foodbanks. Over £800 has been raised allowing Newham Foodbank to buy £4,000-worth of the food that they need from HIS Church, the emergency goods redistribution charity based in Lincs.
Foodbank trustee Adeola Osunbade said ‘Words cannot express our gratitude as we serve a diverse community and this donation will enable us to get a good variety of items to meet an increasing need for food supplies that HIS Church is able to provide. Thank you so much.’
One of Colin’s friends added ‘When Colin was dying we talked to him about creating a legacy to help those in need, in his name. He didn’t hesitate on wanting it to be in support of local charities and was a passionate supporter of Food banks and homelessness in Newham. We all are. We have supported the good work that Rev Elwin Cockett does over the years. The need grew, as you know, when we moved from the Boleyn and the community was shattered. It would be lovely to remember Colin in this way. He was an amazingly giving and caring man.
PPE Visors
During lockdown, Merseyside’s Fans Supporting Foodbank donated funds to the Knowsley PPE Hub for the purchase of PPE-making equipment and raw materials for the manufacture of visors for local hospitals and front-line workers in Merseyside. After a few weeks they were able to offer the visors nationally via the established football foodbank groups in Newcastle, Huddersfield, Manchester City and United, and West Ham. We identified the hospitals in East London and Essex and were able to have delivered 1,000 visors locally by volunteer Nigel Kahn
We also distributed a further 300 visors to local care homes in Redbridge.
#CHARITYNOTPPV
Alongside all of the other Premier League clubs, Irons Supporting Foodbanks are asking our fans to make an affordable donation to their local foodbank and to boycott the £14.95 pay per view charge instead of paying this money to Sky Sports and BT Sport. Whilst we are currently in a run of 3 scheduled televised games covered by normal Sky Sports/BT Sport subscriptions, the extra surcharge for PPV (for West Ham fans likely to be for the Fulham game), comes at a difficult time where families are trying to make ends meet during the Covid crisis with the various tier restrictions and further furlough.
So far this week 10,000’s of fans have donated to their local foodbanks. Newcastle United fans donated over £20,000 rather than watch last weekend’s PPV game. The 2 Manchester clubs have seen over £25,000 donated to the city’s 19 foodbanks, and The Leeds United Trust has seen £31,000 donated locally.
A spokesperson for Irons Supporting Foodbanks added “This week we’ve seen 10,000’s of fans helping 10’000’s of people. This is fan activism at its best. Until the broadcasters revise their charge down to a realistic price point we ask that our fans support Newham Foodbank and if possible donate at www.justgiving/crowdfunding/IronsSupportingFoodbanks.”
‘We are pleased that fan groups including WHUISA are supporting this campaign.’
